The Nadar Chronicles Part III: Somolonania
by Korean Pearl
Summary: Never again.
1. A Single Nadar

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the original characters or species or worlds that K.A. created, or anything that I specifically state as not being mine, as in I quote it from somewhere legitimate.

**Claimer**: I own everything else. The universe that is going to be created here, the cultures, the people, the dialect, everything. Therefore: do not take anything, because it is possible to track people. IP addresses can be logged.

:grins to not scare everybody away but nods emphatically to make people realize that she is serious:

* * *

THE NADAR CHRONICLES PART III: SOMOLONANIA

* * *

_  
This chronicle is for_

_A-cat and DH_

_The only two reviewers_

_Who started with me in The Elemaki Chronicles_

_And stayed with me_

_Through it all._

**"I have been to another world, and come back. Listen to me." - Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin**

* * *

Chapter 1: A Single Nadar

* * *

___  
From: princess at chee dot net  
To: commander tom at chee dot net  
Re: Alexa issues   
Time: 19:34 DATE ERROR YEAR ERROR_

___Tom. Couldn't you get a shorter address? I know it's very business-like and all, none of that bballing243325 at wherever dot com, __ but it's still rather annoying to have to type it all in._

___Anyway, whatever. I hope that you get this email soon, because I'm having issues with Alexa. She's mad because I conscripted everyone into our temporary army except John, who is going to be the only civilian in this group. People are already calling him "the first Kyan," isn't that funny?_

___Anyway, I need you to work your charm on her, okay? Remind her what a nice guy you are, and maybe she'll give. Although probably not. She's a tough little nyasha. Ssintha slang for creature, in case you _haven't_ picked up the fact that all the Ssintha on board are calling us nyasha._

___You're probably rolling your eyes right now, Tom, but seriously. We're going to need everybody we can get in our army wherever we land, and I'm going to depend on you heavily. And I know you're guilt-tripping yourself for owning the hand that tortured me, but really, forget about it. You didn't do anything._

___Okay, ttyl,_

___Maya_

_____

* * *

_

My name is Maya.

_Princess _Maya.

On Earth, I had been Maya Lancing, the seventh Animorph, after I had taken the last name of my adoptive mother. And on the Andalite Home World, I had been Mayanmar-Semitur-Aventa, daughter of Alloran-Semitur-Corass and Saranai, an Elemaki.

But now, I was War-Princess Maya of the Nadar, Princess of a bloodthirsty people who loved - _lived - _to fight and kill.

I had been with Rachel when she went on the Blade Ship to kill Tom, but I had survived only to be killed a little bit everyday in torture by Tom's hand, Tom and his Yeerk who I had saved.

A sudden attack on the Blade Ship had allowed me and a number of hosts and three changed Yeerks to flee on a small transport ship. We had escaped into the night sky, and then we met the people who had attacked the Blade Ship. The people who had, in a sense, freed us.

_____I looked at my clear skin, marveling at the lack of blood and wounds and cuts. I had morphed and demorphed, and was wearing a simple white dress type of clothing that I could tie a belt around and then leave alone._

_____I was talking to Keav, a Cambodian woman whose expertise in piloting had her in the cockpit at almost all hours. __Jeremy, the young Briton who had led us all out of the Blade Ship, was at the tactical station, running his hands happily over the controls of the ship's Dracon cannon._

_"Guns," Jeremy had explained to me during the short time after we were first freed, when we were getting to know each other. "I've always loved them. Not for the idea of killing, or the 'feeling of power' some loonies say they get. A gun as a gun, a simple, perfect instrument of death. I came to the States because… there are a lot of reasons, but the one I like to tell people is because you can buy weapons far more easily here. I kept a little shop open, selling firepower to anyone with money. Ironic that by giving those around me the power to kill, I could make enough money to live. In my spare time, I just tinkered with the guns and perfected my aim. I got into the Sharing at a time when people were acting rationally and not trying to kill each other – i.e., I was skint. This organisation of random smiling people offered to help me out. Heh… help indeed. My little arsenal was converted into an infesting centre, and I began to shoot Dracons instead of bullets."_

_____Keav's story was harrowing. "I was about seven years old during the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot and the Angkar."_

_"Who for those who don't know their history were a bunch of psychotic loons who'd put you to death for wearing glasses," put in Jeremy for the benefit of the surrounding Nadar._____

_____"They massacred my entire family," Keav continued, with a nod. "Either by starving them or through disease or by shooting them when they found out we weren't originally of peasant origin. Only my brother, Kim, and I survived. My brother and I became Nadar when we tried to kill a drunken soldier when I was around ten, and Kim was around eight."_

_____I never asked her whether she succeeded, or asked Jeremy the exact moment that he__became a Nadar. They didn't ask me about my past either. We only asked each other enough to know that we _were_ Nadar, bound by our same rage and hatred._

_"A ship is hailing us," Keav said suddenly, and I felt the tension rise in the cockpit as Jeremy turned towards the control panel, priming and arming every weapon he could find. I felt instinctively for my Dracon beam. I had taken it off of Tom, Tom who was still a Controller because his Yeerk refused to leave._

_____The screen flickered on and for a moment I went into shock as I looked into Jenny the Chee's concerned eyes. _Jenny? _What was _she___doing here? Eric had told me that she had been destroyed during the raids that the Yeerks had made on Earth during the Animorph War…_

_"Maya!" she cried out, her hologram's eyes somehow conveying feelings of relief. "You're alive!"_

_I stared back at her, Jeremy and Keav looking at me curiously. "Who the hell's this?" asked Jeremy in a reasonable voice._

___"__Eric told me you were destroyed," I said to the Chee that I had met in middle school when I had first gone to school on Earth. _

_____Jenny shook her head and laughed. "We escaped. Remember? The five of us, us five Chee that wanted to do more than just surveillance? We left before the Chee were trapped underground and we stole an Andalite ship that the Yeerks had captured and we wandered around until we found -"_

_____She was cut off as a familiar Andalite face filled the screen._

_____Solethi. The Andalite who had helped me, a half-Elemaki, a member of an inferior race on the Andalite Home World, escape the Andalites who would take me to be a factory slave on an undefended moon. He had shown me how to get to the Island, a place of relative safety for escaped Elemaki._

_____I had ended up on a factory in the end, but I never forgot how Solethi, the first 3rd generation Nadar I had ever met, was the only Andalite to have shown me kindness. A 3rd gen Nadar, like Rachel, who had loved to fight from an inborn desire rather than a love that was an environmental and circumstantial product like the 1st and 2nd gen Nadar._

_____I was a first generation Nadar. After my life, it was rather difficult not to be._

_____(Come onboard the Liberty,) Solethi told me. (We have plenty of room.)_

_____I nodded, giving permission to Keav, as I smiled back at him, having no words to say. Yes, liberty always had plenty of room._

_____We docked into the larger ship, and I rushed to embrace both Solethi and Jenny, words gushing from my lips as I told them everything that had happened to me. Their love and awe was real as they saw my thirty some freed hosts come into the new ship._

_____And then I told them about Tom, and how his Yeerk wouldn't leave him, and Jenny's eyes flashed. "I have an idea." _

I watched as the holograph of me, still chained up as I had been on the Blade Ship during my month of torture, struggled uselessly against the shackles. Another holograph of the One was placed opposite of my image, and then Jenny, who was creating the images, waited for Tom and his Yeerk to wake up.

I saw Tom slowly get up, and then look around as if dazed. I knew his eyes were seeing the feeding room in the Blade ship, effectively simulated by Jenny.

"I am very displeased with you," a voice said quietly from the amorphous black shape of the One who was shifting and turning.

Tom cowered, which I could certainly understand. The One held power over Tom, over anyone near him, really, by her ability to absorb creatures and keep them within herself. I had spent the last week or so cowering from the same black form, and even now I almost trembled even though I knew that it was Jenny who was generating the sound waves to replicate one of the many voices of the One.

"I apologize," Tom's mouth said, his head bent to the ground. "The rebels…" he started, and then corrected himself. "The girl attacked me…"

"She almost escaped." The One's voice echoed throughout the ship. "I recaptured her, with no help from you!"

I was taking a risk by having the One assume a position of command over Tom. They had maintained a tricky balance of sharing power back in Blade Ship, and I knew that now that Tom was gone from the Blade Ship, the One would take the lead.

Tom prostrated himself further, and I could see his body start to shake. Hah, I sneered to the Yeerk who inhabited Tom's head. Let's see you withstand the torture that you gave me for the past month.

"You have failed," the One said quietly. "Return to the feeding pool."

Tom's Yeerk hesitated, which was to be expected. Who knew what would happen to him once he left the safety of his human host? But I wasn't going to leave freeing Tom up to chance or to the probability that Tom's Yeerk would obey the One.

Two Hork-Bajir who had escaped with the rest of us came forward at my signal and grabbed Tom roughly and forced his head above what appeared to be the Yeerk pool, but what was really a simple human bucket filled with the sludge that contained nutrients for the Yeerk to live on.

The rest of us tensed up, waiting for the Yeerk's next move, hoping and praying that he wouldn't morph. I saw Tom's eyes flick to the holograph of me, seemingly exhausted and hopeless, before a gray slug pushed its way out of Tom's ear.

I held my breath, waiting for the plop that would tell me that the Yeerk had dropped into the bucket, and when it came, I released it, and with that sigh of relief, the holographs dropped and the One and the image of my tortured self was gone.

"NO!" I heard Tom shout, as he instantly began fighting the Hork-Bajir who looked at me, unsure of what to do with him. I indicated that they should set him on his feet, and then told them to leave him.

At the sound of my voice, Tom turned his now tearstained face towards me in dumbfounded awe. "But I thought…" he whispered. "I thought…"

I knew how I appeared to him. For the first time in a month I was clean, not covered in blood or wounds. My hair was neatly braided and bound back with a force field band and I was wearing a rough, simple outfit made of white, fluffy leaves that had been found by one of the ex-Controllers in the grazing area of the Andalite ship that Jenny, the other Chee, Solethi and another Andalite who I didn't know, had come on.

I was healthy and whole.

I rushed towards Tom who opened his arms to embrace me. I clung to his warm, strong body and breathed into his chest, holding him as tightly as I could.

He stepped back after a long long moment, and asked with wonder and joy at the same time, "What happened?"

"We escaped," I told him simply. "I knocked you out after the Blade ship was hit by the ship that Jenny came on, and then with Jeremy's help we went into the feeding area and freed as many hosts in the cages as we could before escaping on one of the transporting shuttles."

"Jeremy?" he asked. "How could he help you… oh… wait… he was one of the Yeerks that was helping you? My Yeerk knew that there was at least one who had 'turned traitor' as he called it, but he didn't know who it was."

I didn't respond, but continued to look at him, watching his face grow brighter as his hope returned. Tom then took his hand and placed it gently, tenderly on my face, holding it up.

I felt a flash of fear when he raised his hand, remembering too many times when it had come down with force, and so was almost surprised when he lifted my face to his so gently. We stood a few inches apart, and then he moved down, and I felt him kissing me, and felt me kissing him back.

I heard the cheers and the mock scolding as we kissed, but it didn't enter into my brain. Only Tom did, with his gentle touches, so different from what I was used to receiving from his hands.

We stopped, and I almost grabbed at his hand that was leaving my face.

"Promise me," I whispered to him, "That this hand will never hurt me again."

His eyes spoke to me of his regret and sorrow, as he nodded, and said, "I promise," before coming down for another kiss.

Relief flooded through my body, and I almost collapsed onto the floor. Tom held me up, as my body and legs gave way, and I leaned into him, letting myself willingly depend on someone else for once in my life.

All the stress and tension of the last month had built up to this moment, and the adrenaline which had been keeping me going before faded away. I felt others gather around me, and heard Alexa, one of the humanoid like creatures who had come on the ship with Jenny, say, "We need to get her to someplace where she can sleep."

Yes, I thought dimly as Tom picked me up as if I weighed almost nothing, carrying me to someplace where I could rest. Sleep sounds good.

The world faded away as I relaxed in Tom's arms.

* * *

The next few days I did nothing but sleep and eat. 

Or to be more accurate, I slept and was fed food.

I was treated like a princess, Earthling style, and if I hadn't been so weak I would have probably protested it. My body didn't need it, I had morphed the wounds away, but the others insisted that my mind needed it. I didn't fight back too hard; I was willing to wait and relax and rest.

Tom visited almost everyday, with reports of what was happening. Apparently the former Controllers had mixed in with the newcomers and were all living communally, although Tom told me that they would need more formal government if anything beyond just plain living was to be done.

So I got up.

I wandered outside my bedroom, and the People greeted me.

"Greetings, Princess," a girl said shyly, as I first stepped out. I smiled and touched her hair lightly.

I meandered slowly through the crowd, stopping to touch a face here, shake a hand there. Some embraced me, and I hugged these strangers back, knowing that I would probably be spending the rest of my life with them.

"Hey, Maya," a voice called, and I turned to see Jeremy waving. I walked through the milling people to grab his hand to shake it, but our grasp quickly turned into an embrace.

"Thank you," I whispered. "We would have never made it out if it weren't for you."

He didn't say anything, simply held me until our embrace ended. Then he turned around and I saw that five others who all came up to me.

No one said anything for a few minutes. We simply looked at each other, and I drank in the presence of six other beings who through odd connections and random meetings, I would be working more closely with than the others.

"Let's get to know each other a little. Our names, our ages, dreams and hopes for the future, that kind of thing," I suggested lightly, and the others laughed. Of course. Of course.

"I'm Jeremy, and I'm twenty-two. I can never remember my dreams when I wake up, and I'd rather leave the future to itself."

"I'm Keav, and I'm twenty-four. My dreams and hopes are not really worth mentioning."

Each Nadar answered, each in their own way – some jokingly, like Jeremy, some deadly serious – like Keav.

"I'm Tom. I'm eighteen. I... hope that I can undo everything that my Yeerk did," he said, looking at me. I smiled at him.

"I'm Maya," I said, with the same smile. "I'm sixteen. And you should all be able to guess the rest."

"I am Alexa," the girl who had been with Jenny said. She looked about seventeen or so. "I'm twenty-six - "

Everyone looked up in surprise. "Twenty-six?"

She laughed, showing her teeth. "It's a long story. First, I know I look like a human, but I'm not – I'm a Biolex. An Arn created me, at first just for fun, and then specifically for you."

"For me?" I said uncertainly. She nodded. "Yes. He created all of us, actually." Alexa waved out at the crowd. "There are more Biolex out there. He created me first, which is why I'm older, but he crafted me to be a seventeen year old human girl. So mentally, I'm twenty-six, but physically, I'm seventeen."

We took this in, and then I asked, "So… what's the difference between you and a human?"

Alexa answered by closing her eyes. Suddenly, an enormous pair of white, feathery wings shot out of her back, startling us.

"I can fly," the Biolex told us. "And I can't die."

We stared at her. "Um... you can't die?" asked Jeremy uncertainly.

"That's correct. I'm biologically immortal. If you chop off my head, it'll regenerate. I'm seventeen forever, basically."

"Hyperfast cell regeneration?" asked someone. "The Yeerks were trying to create a regeneration technology using what they knew about the Andalite morphing techniques…"

"Exactly," smiled Alexa.

"There would be weaknesses," said Jeremy thoughtfully. "If you could destroy the whole body at once there would be nothing to regenerate from, and antimatter or subatomic disintegration would probably stop you… Can you survive being starved of oxygen? Frozen?"

Alexa's tilted her head to one side. "I'm actually not quite sure. I've experimented with a few scenarios - I do know that I can survive being frozen, for example. My body shuts down but it keeps doing the minimum I need to survive. And I don't need oxygen to survive."

We swallowed and nodded. "Anything else?" I asked.

Alexa arched her back and the wings pulled back in. "Yes. It's a little difficult to explain, though. See… the Arn programmed a certain character into me. A certain nature. And I can't go against that nature."

"What is that nature?" Keav asked quietly.

"I must always act in the best interests of the People that I serve, and next in the best interest of mortals at large."

"Good for us mortals, then," Jeremy joked half-heartedly. He was clearly worried by the idea of someone proof against all weapons.

(It is good to meet you,) Solethi said politely. (I am Solethi,) the Andalite said. (And I am much too old for you youngsters.)

We laughed, and then turned towards the last Andalite, who had been standing quietly, listening to our banter.

"And you are…?" asked Jeremy.

(I am Xelaman.)

**Review Responses**

For those of you who don't remember or those of you who don't know, here's the clip about Xelaman. The background: Maya was Mayanamar on the Andalite Home World, with her twin brother Osgaron. They are currently slaves to an Andalite family.

_____We knelt side by side in the darkness, eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. I could feel my brother's trembling flank against mine._

_____I thought to him, (If he touches you again, I'll kill him.)_

_____I heard his mental sigh, and knew that he would be smiling if he had his eyes open._

_____Oh, my beloved twin._

_____He shifted slightly, (It isn't so bad.)_

_____(Yes, it is,) I responded fiercely._

_____(If you kill him,) my brother started carefully, (Then they will kill you. Besides, you don't have it that easy, either.)_

_____(The mother doesn't bother me that much. She virtually ignores my existence until she wants a chore done. She's only hit me once.) I paused, and then continued. (The daughter must be really insecure because she feels the need to remind me that I am a half-breed Elemaki every other second.) _

_____(That doesn't sound very easy,) my brother said softly. (And you know you couldn't kill anyone anyway.)_

_____I knew. But if that sneering Andalite filth – the only son, the youngest, the pride of the family that had enslaved us – beat my brother with his tail blade again, I would do something._

_____I just didn't know what._

_____(You know, it's odd,) my brother mused._

_____(What?)_

_____(Why does this family have two children? I don't know any other family that does.)_

_____(The population reduction laws requiring only one child per family weren't passed until eleven years ago. The Andalites don't expect the laws to really limit the population growth until about twenty years later, although most Andalites already just had one child because of custom,) I reminded him. This family must have kept trying to get kids until they finally had a son, right after the population laws were passed.)_

_____(Why didn't they just alter the chromosomes to get a son the first time?)_

_____(Well, the mother is kind of old fashioned, so I guess she didn't want to bother.)_

_____My brother was silent for a while, taking this in, and then continued asking his questions. (What about the Elemaki elimination laws?)_

_____(I'm not sure,) I answered honestly. (But I think that those are expected to take a lot longer. The Andalite custom of having as few children as possible doesn't exist among the Elemaki, so the Elemaki have a much larger population. Also, the Elemaki elimination is predicted to take much longer than at first expected because not all the Andalites hate us as fervently anymore. From what I've gathered, most Andalites view us as an unnecessary annoyance, but not the filth of the universe. The Yeerks stole that title.)_

_____(And they're welcome to it,) my brother answered. (It must be convenient to get all this news,) he continued, changing the subject._

_____(Yes,) I agreed, (It is. I generally listen to it whenever I'm trimming the grass around the scoop.)_

_____We fell silent for a while, and then I spoke up. (We've seen it with our own eyes.)_

_____Startled, my brother said, (What?)_

_____(Remember? Every Elemaki village we went to was smaller than the previous one. There are less and less babies because of the slow sterilization of all Elemaki. The Andalite government is also deporting all Elemaki eight years to forty years old to the second moon with all the factories on it. The very moon that was declared unfit for Andalite civilians to live and too unprotected for an official military base. So of course the Elemaki get the privilege of living there. I hear that they hope to have us completely wiped out within a century,) I finished._

_____(That'll be hard,) my brother remarked. (Since there have been no real population laws on the Elemaki until the most recent one, they have had the most children. These new, stricter population laws affect both the Elemaki and Andalites at the same time, but the punishment for breaking the law is just harsher on the Elemaki.)_

_____The punishment for the Andalites: absorption of the second child into the military_

_____The punishment for the Elemaki: death of the entire family_

_____An effective way to reduce the Elemaki population._

_____The Andalites want to wipe out all Elemaki with the next hundred years. At the rate they are killing them off; they'll make their deadline – barely. There are still a lot of Elemaki out there._

_____Will they kill or deport us too? Or will we be allowed to remain "happy slaves" for the rest of our miserable lives._

_____My brother broke into my thoughts. (Mayanamar, I want you to promise me something.)_

_____(What?)_

_____(If I die, leave.)_

_____I immediately countered his statement with, (Then if I die, you leave.)_

_____(I can't,) he said. (I'm bound here. I chose to come. You didn't.)_

_____(I chose to come, Osgaron,) I answered seriously._

_____(There was no choice. He forced you.)_

_____(Osgaron,) I said, silently begging him to listen to me. (Osgaron, I made a conscious choice.)_

_____I didn't bother to tell him the choice, but he knew anyway._

_____(Yeah, between death at that moment and death later,) he scoffed._

_____(But I'm not dead!) I cried. (Maybe if he had physically grabbed me and dragged me over the border, but he didn't! I made a choice!)_

_____(Why do you insist on condemning yourself when you can get out of here by claiming that death is not a choice?)_

_____I stayed quiet for what seemed like a long time, but what was probably only ten minutes. Finally, with the sun just rising over the edge of the pasture lands, I answered. (Mamai made a choice. She chose between her life and ours. Her death and our death. She made a choice because she loved us.) And I'm making a choice because I love you._

_____The sun rose, and we rose with it, going to the garden to work. We worked silently, falling into our usual rhythm. We had only been slaves for a month, and yet we already knew how to keep silent, be obedient and remain alive._

_____(Elemaki!) a young male's voice called out. The brat, Xelaman. (Where are you, half-breed?)_

_____My brother turned to go, but the Andalite saw him and came over._

_____(Where were you?) Xelaman asked arrogantly. (I needed something to practice on.)_

_____Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him lift his tail blade and hit my brother, who didn't say a word. The second time Osgaron staggered a few steps backward, but kept quiet. Xelaman continued beating him and I continued to do nothing._

_____No._

_____I stood up, my back straight. (Stop,) I ordered, then marched over, ignoring my brother's warnings in my head. The Andalite filth sneered at me, _

_____(Why? Do you get mad when I hit your brother?)_

_____What was I supposed to do? Osgaron was right. I couldn't kill him. But my brother…_

_____My eyes drifted to my brother, whose desperate pleas of (STOP!) were louder in my head. To his tail, that wasn't there. That would have been there if it weren't for the Andalites. That should have been there. Xelaman had a tail. Why? What was so different about us? Why should he have a tail when my brother didn't?_

_____Maybe I could give the Andalite's tail to my brother._

_____The thought was so ludicrous that I almost laughed. All this was so meaningless!_

_____I don't exactly remember what made me do what I did, but I do remember lifting my tail, up, and up, and over, the cursed half-curved blade shining in the sun and flashing downward right into the base that connected his tail to his body._

_____I didn't hear the boy's cry of pain, because my brother's shouts of horror drowned him out._

_____(Mayanamar!) Osgaron shouted, jerking me out of my terror-struck reverie. I tried to pull my tail bade out of the Andalite boy's tail, but it wouldn't come. I used all the muscle in my tail to pull it up, but my curved tail blade was firmly embedded. The Andalite was still screaming about his tail, and so I decided to remove it for him. I applied pressure, and with one sudden push his tail was lying on the floor._

_____My tail blade was covered in blood. I stared at it, at the still screaming boy, at his unattached tail, and lastly at my brother._

_____I fell forward as my knees buckled, right into my brother's arms. He held me tightly for as long as we dared. Then,_

_____(You need to leave. Don't argue with me.)_

_____I knew he was right, but I couldn't resist asking, (What about you?)_

_____He answered, (I don't have a tail, remember? They'll know it wasn't me. I can lead them off. Go.)_

_____As I left his arms and bounded towards Elemaki lands, my brother echoed my mother's last words. (I love you. Do not fear. I will always love you.)_

_____I had an awful, awful feeling. Don't say those words! I almost cried out. But I couldn't leave my brother with that._

_____(I love you too.)_

_____I swiftly ran, forcing my legs to carry me away._

As you may or may not recall, Osgaron was killed.

**Real Review Responses**

Okay… I think people were a little confused by the juxtaposition of the italics at the start of the last chapter of The Princess. I realize now that it probably confused people about the timing of the story, so I'll edit that now.

As you now know, it was not the Animorphs who hit the ship which freed Maya. It has only been one month since Maya was first taken by the Blade Ship – there are still two years to go before Ax is taken by the One. Sorry if that was confusing.

**The Really Real Review Responses**

**Note: The chapter is a re-written version - thanks, Wraithlord! **

**DH – **Yay! You're back! Glad you liked the scene with Tom. And yes, Jeremy is going to be very fun to write. Your character is coming up soon, as well. She doesn't have as big of a part in Nadar Chronicles 3 as she does in Mayanites: Nadar and Kyan, but she is definitely there. And thank you so much! I'm actually hoping to go to Japan for a year after high school (I plan to go into International Studies, with an Asian base) so I'm going there to become fluent in Japanese. I won't have as much school work to do, so I'll have more time to write, and during that time I hope to really get moving. :grins:

Ah, that makes sense. Actually, I wrote the ending of that scene before I wrote the rest of the Princess, which is maybe why the two don't seem to fit. I think also another thing I have to clear up is the nature of a Nadar. So far we've only been getting what Maya thinks about Nadar, how she feels what a Nadar should be and act. In fact, other than briefly meeting Solethi and Rachel (who doesn't know the history of the Nadar) we only have Maya's perception, which may or may not be right. But in this chronicle, we have other Nadar who can add their two cents in about what being a Nadar is. I tend to view the term Nadar as undergoing metamorphosis, and actually by the end of all my writing, we'll see what Nadar has come to mean from what Maya originally thought it meant. I hope this chapter helps capture some of that – when she starts off right away with declaring herself Princess of "a bloodthirsty army."

And yeah, a lot of people seemed to enjoy her knocking out Tom right away. This chapter should provide some more interaction between them – hope you enjoy! And the other questions about timing I hope I cleared up earlier. And glad you liked the One. Becky and I were tossing ideas back and forth while I was supposed to be studying for the Chem SAT II, actually. :grins:

**Toby **– Glad you liked the history of the One. My sister and I had fun with that. And also, I think you confusion might stem from the confusing timing… I explained that above, did it help? And thanks for your review!

**Sci-fi raptor – **I'm so glad you weren't disappointed. :grins: And as to the review response lengths, I'll have to direct you to the reviewers. The longer reviews they leave, the longer the responses I give in return. :smiles: Also, I'm going to leave your reviews to chapter 1 and 3 (they accidentally printed twice) unanswered, since I think they were more directed towards the random dude. And I'm glad you liked the Crayak/Ellimist interaction! As to Crayak being part machine, I think that when the Animorphs went to the Iskoort Home World they ran into Crayak, and Jake dictated that Crayak was part machine. I may be wrong though, so thanks for pointing that out.

I'm not sure what you mean by the rate that the time flows at though… Maya is only 16 years old in this story, so far. But anyway, thanks for your review and here's the next post!

**Elwing – **Oh, I didn't notice that connection. Yeah, you're right. And I'm glad you found the ending poignant – hopefully that theme will continue through the next installment, which I too hope is just as good. :grins: And aw, thanks. I hope I don't disappoint.

**Birdie **– Of course. I'm sure you'll love Keav. :grins: And yeah, that scene with Tom a lot of people seemed to like. And here's the update – I hope it fills your appetite!

**HFN **– I think the explanation I have above might help with the confusion. The juxtaposition of the italics and the story confused a lot of people, I think. And this series has been going for a while, and I hope it will go on for a while longer! And thanks for your review!

**Kaz **­– Me, too. :laughs: I'm glad you liked the ending – this new chapter doesn't really continue on that theme, but hopefully the next few will. And just out of curiosity, you have read my other fics, haven't you? They make more sense together, and I wasn't sure which ones you had or hadn't read. And yes, about Tobias… that'll come at the end of Nadar Chronicles 3, so don't worry! And thanks again – for your reviews and for the congratulations.

**A-cat **- :hugs impulsively: Your character showed up in this chapter, I hope you like her! And yeah, I cut off that scene – never intended to write it through, although my reviewers didn't know that until then. And I'll talk about Jeremy and his history more as we go through – he has a very interesting history and will have a very interesting future. And about Taylor… she's pretty messed up. I'll let the story tell that, since it'll be more fun to read it than hear me go on and on about it here. :smiles:

And yup, they are all Nadar. I had her be able to tell by looking more for the drama, I have to admit, but at the very least they'll all be willing to fight for her and with her. Some are more Nadarish than others, and some retire or drop out, but for now, every one of them (except for John, who is only four, but even him in emergencies) will be willing to fight.

And sorry about the confusion – I hope I cleared it up with my announcement. And glad you liked how she dealt with Tom: here's more Tom/Maya in this chapter. And of course not – I'm excited to write everyone's characters. Just the addition of your character added so much more plot to my story, into Mayanites: Nadar and Kyan, and beyond. And although we didn't make it to Somolonania in this chapter, I hope to see you there in the next. Cheers!

**FOL **– Thanks! Glad you liked it. And here's the next chapter!

**Tabatha **- :hugs: I hope everything turns out okay. I'm really glad to have you back, as well. :hugs again:

REVIEW!


	2. Free At Last

Chapter 2: Free At Last

_From: aristhtom at chee dot net_

_To: princess at chee dot net_

_Re: Sorry…_

_Time: 19:36 DATE ERROR YEAR ERROR_

_I wanted to make my new email as unlike my old self as possible. But I made it shorter, see?_

_Okay, I'll talk to her._

_You know, Maya… you know what I feel like shouting right now, shouting all the time?_

_I remember reading Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream" speech when I was younger, we had to memorize it and everything. I didn't really care then, or when I was older, but now…_

_"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"_

_That's how I feel, Maya. Free._

_Tom_

_

* * *

_

I blinked. Once. Twice.

The memories rushed over me, and I stared at this handsome creature (for he _was_ handsome) who stood before and declared himself to be my brother's tormentor when suddenly Tom brushed past me and attacked Xelaman.

I was confused for a moment, and then realized that Tom would know my memories, especially the awful ones, and so of course Tom would try and prove his loyalty by attacking the creature who had treated my brother so brutally.

Xelaman didn't respond to Tom's blows. He only lifted his stalk eyes to glance at me and then I snapped out of my dazed state and glared at him. "Murderer," I spat.

The word glanced off of Xelaman's perfectly still body, and bounced back to fill my ears. Murderer. Murderer. Murderer.

Xelaman simply looked at me.

Oh, the irony. The irony gods are cruel, aren't they, I asked Marco silently. Amusing to you, perhaps, but they are cruel to those who are cruel.

"Stop, Tom," I finally said. The others around me had said nothing. Only Alexa looked at me curiously.

(Princess,) Solethi said hesitantly, and I looked at him in shock. He was calling _me _his princess? As an Andalite he must have had to humble himself so greatly to call a half-Elemaki-turned-human a princess. I knew Solethi had been a part of a movement to liberate the Elemaki, or at least help them escape, but still…

(Princess,) he said again, and I realized just how old he was. He had already served the military for many years when I had met him as an eight-year-old Elemaki and he had lived through those twenty-five years that I had skipped when I jumped through the Sario Rip to land on Earth.

The question fell unbidden from my lips. "What happened during twenty-five years after I left you?"

His eyes smiled sadly. (Princess Maya, during that time the genocide against the Elemaki continued. All the Elemaki either escaped or were killed, and whilst you were gone the killings were accelerated, because the government wanted to concentrate on the war against the Yeerks. I was conscripted as an instructor but I continued to help the underground organization release Elemaki to the Island.)

I nodded, keeping my eyes on Xelaman.

(Xelaman was assigned to me as a student. As a _vecol_ he was ostracized from the other children – in this way I was able to spend more time with him. I taught him my ideas, and since he understood rejection because he was a _vecol_, he also learned to view the Elemaki as equal to himself.)

"He's not exactly a _vecol _now," someone pointed out. Solethi nodded, and explained how after Xelaman entered the military he was given the morphing power which gave him back his severed tail.

The tail that I had cut off.

"Tom," I called, interrupting Solethi. Tom left Xelaman without hesitation and came to stand by my side. I turned towards the younger Andalite and said, "You explain the rest."

I didn't want to humiliate Solethi by cutting him off, but I had to hear it from Xelaman. I owed Solethi my life – I didn't want to be persuaded by the pleading tone in his voice which told me, S_pare him. Spare my student._

(My teacher was discovered to have been helping Elemaki for the second time,) Xelaman responded quietly. (He was banished, and his family was imprisoned. I followed him to his planet later on, taking this ship with me.)

"You flew this thing by _yourself_?" Keav asked with surprise, and then whistled when Xelaman confirmed this.

"So you think you're my equal now?" I asked, knowing that my words were bitter but wanting more to hurt him as badly as he had hurt me. Sure, he had been young at that time, but I had gone through so much pain because of _him. He _had to pay.

(Forgive me,) he whispered.

I stood still for a moment and controlled my rising rage Alexa spoke up.

"Maya, he's actually asked you for your forgiveness. Will you ever have a chance to ask the people you hurt for theirs?"

Furious, I turned towards her, my hand up, but she didn't flinch, and I realized with horror that I had been ready to strike her.

A grim silence fell over the seven of us as I stared at her unblinking eyes. What kind of monster was I, ready to turn and hit a girl my age after pleading Tom to never hurt me?

Her words of a moment ago echoed through to me. _An Arn created me, at first just for fun, and then specifically for you…_

I smiled crookedly, and then lowered my hand. (Forgive me?) I asked of the Biolex. _Of course, _her eyes said.

I turned back towards Xelaman who was still waiting for my answer.

I remembered Osgaron and how he had loved me. How he had held me with all his heart and soul, how he had always been there whenever I cried out in the night from fear and from loss. After Mamai died he had been my world, and when he died I had been so alone…

_How many brothers have you killed? How many sisters mourn in their loneliness?_

"Yes," I said, my voice steady, and then the tension visibly relaxed, conversations started again as Xelaman and I looked into each other's eyes.

_Yes._

"So, Alexa, is this another one of your skills?" Jeremy asked. "A way to calm down explosive Nadar princesses?"

The words _Nadar princesses _were so alien together, that I had to laugh, and Solethi joined with me. A Nadar Princess? A Nadar _War-_Princess? Impossible. Yet here I stood.

"Actually," Alexa said, "It is. All the Biolex have it. We are peacemakers, in a way. Treaty-signers. That is the one thing that holds us in common – otherwise we are quite different. I'm the only one who is immortal, by the way. All the others have a biological time clock. They can live as an immortal for a certain number of years, and then they die."

"I still want to see just how well this regeneration stands up to my weapons," Jeremy asked, almost carefully. "Call it paranoia, but I don't like being near bulletproof people, whatever side they're on."

"Oh, please," Tom murmured. "Don't chop off her head. Even if it regenerates I don't think we need to purposefully freak everyone out."

"You think a shipload of Nadar will be 'freaked out' by a simple decapitation, Yank?' Jeremy shot back. "I think the saying in your country is 'puh-leeze'? We're all a bunch of stone-cold murderers, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Look, just because you're worried that Alexa here is proof against everything you have," returned Tom, "you still don't have to _cut off her head_, for crying out loud."

Jeremy took a step back and quietly muttered obscenities to himself with an amused Alexa watching all the while.

"Can you morph?" Keav asked, her sharp eyes inspecting Alexa. Well, she was the most alien creature we had seen in a while, I supposed that it was expected of us to be interested.

Alexa laughed, shaking her head. "No, I can't morph. My DNA – all our DNA – is slightly altered, preventing anyone from morphing us, and preventing us from acquiring anything. Besides, I am in no way a fighter."

(You're not a Nadar then?) Xelaman asked.

"Are _you_?" I inquired of him, and he shook his head, telling me that he _had_ made it through his childhood without succumbing.

"No, I'm not a Nadar," Alexa said firmly. "Which is why I _am_ unhappy at the way you've conscripted everyone but John into your Nadar army. I mean, I understand that you feel the need for an army, but _everyone…_"

"Listen, Alexa, you may be a peacemaker but frankly we don't need your idealism right now. We can sign a treaty with the stars, promising not to blow them up - is that good enough?" Jeremy broke in with his sarcasm that I was already beginning to get used to. "And besides, the idea of this ship's crew going around running up a Greenpeace flag and giving people hugs goes against the grain a bit, no?"

Alexa looked unconvinced. "Well, what's the _point _of your army if you only have one Kyan to protect?"

"Kyan?" Keav asked, puzzled.

"Civilian," I supplied for her.

Jeremy started to answer Alexa, and then paused. "Oi, Maya, Jenny told me earlier that she had a sort of bionic body that my Yeerk could inhabit… he wants out, now. Since it's obvious that I'm going to be very involved with our beautiful new society," he added with just a hint of irony, "he wants a background role."

I whirled around, looking for Jenny, and was greeted by what looked like a metal stick figure. The metallic arms and legs were limp, and the body was held up only by Jenny, who grinned at me.

"Full-spectrum vision, hearing, the works," she explained. "Xelaman was creating these for any Yeerks that might have turned. It has a camera up here for sight, and the Yeerk goes into here," she added, pointing at what looked vaguely like a rounded pencil-box. "It produces Kandrona rays," the Chee added. "We used the same technology that I'm using in my head to keep Tom's Yeerk alive."

I watched as Jeremy leaned over, releasing the Yeerk into his new home, and then watched the Yeerk speak briefly to Jeremy before lifting his metal arm and waving at all of us.

I smiled at him, and grasped his hand. "Thank you," I whispered. The Yeerk accepted my thanks, and then left, eagerly trying out his new body.

"Princess," Tom said, as Jeremy went back to finish his argument with Alexa. "I was talking to Jeremy earlier – well, I was talking to Jeremy and Alexa, since the two always seem to be together arguing about something. To cut a long story short, we think that there's a way to genetically alter both the Yeerks that will grow up with us, and the Nadar so that only the allied Yeerks can infest us."

I looked at him. "Is that really possible?"

"With the help of the Biolex, I think it is," he responded. "It would bring the Nadar together, make them one unit, as well."

I nodded, and said that we would think about it. He turned to talk to Keav, and soon they were in an animated debate, something about the ethics behind changing the genetic makeup of sentient creatures to make them less vulnerable. Jeremy and Alexa were still arguing about idealism and Dracon carbines and cutting people's heads off to see if they would grow back, and I silently groaned as Xelaman joined in.

What am I doing wrong? I thought. Jake managed to hold the seven of us together. Sure, we argued, but mostly for fun. Was it because we were all the same age, while everyone here is older than me? Or is it because we just met? Or is it because we don't have a common cause to bind us together – no mandate to destroy the Yeerks? No planet or home to protect?

(Give them a purpose,) Solethi said suddenly into my mind. I didn't look at him; we could communicate without human gestures.

(What can I give them?) I asked. (I am too young. My dreams and purposes are much too far reaching – to conquer the world, and satisfy my revenge. These are not noble ideals. They would not follow me for these goals.)

I silently apologized to the Animorphs. I am not noble, I told them. I'm sorry.

(You forget,) he said. (We are Nadar. Nobility does not mean what it means to the Kyan. We lie, we backstab, we cheat, we do what it takes, but we get the job done.)

(We are soldiers, then.)

(Ah, Princess, you can be a soldier and still not be a Nadar. Warriors are not Nadar, yet they are soldiers.)

(But Solethi, what am I supposed to _do? _I have an army now, at least I have thirty people ready to fight for me. I have my commanders here, and they are bickering like school children.)

(What do you want most of all, Princess?)

(I want a People.)

Solethi laughed silently. (Well, then Alexa is right, isn't she? You need Kyan to have a People.)

I brushed that aside. (But Solethi, I _do _have a People. These are my People.)

(And a People need a Home World.)

I stopped, and then turned to look at him. He was smiling at me with all of his eyes, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"But Solethi, why didn't you just _tell _me?"

(I suppose I am a teacher,) he said, his eyes still smiling. (I suppose I always will be.)

I turned towards the others who had stopped arguing when I had burst out and said, "Okay. Jeremy, Keav, Tom, Solethi, and Xelaman, I'm going to split the army up under you and give you each six or so people under your command."

"Army?" Jeremy snorted, and then jumped as Alexa smacked him lightly. He turned in surprise, a Dracon beam already in his hand, and she grinned sweetly at him.

I continued, recognizing this as something Rachel and Marco had always done, although neither Jeremy nor Alexa were the slightest bit alike to Rachel and Marco.

"You will be…" I said, trying to think up a name for their position.

(Arisths,) Xelaman supplied. (We can be Arisths.)

I turned to look at him, and then laughed. "Perfect! My highest advisors will be Arisths. Aristh Xelaman, that was an excellent idea."

He grinned with his stalk eyes, and I smiled back.

"Alexa, you can be a non-fighter, although I'd still like you to be a part of this council. Jenny will be an honorary member, as a Chee."

"What is this _for_, though?" Jeremy broke in. "I mean, it's all very good and nice to be organized, but what's the point?"

"Interesting," murmured Alexa. "Now you're saying the same thing as me." Jeremy rolled his eyes.

"We will find a Home World," I said, the words filling me with exhilaration, almost making me dizzy. "And we will settle it."

"Don't some of these people just want to go back to Earth, though?" Jeremy said, still not convinced. "I mean, I'm fine with staying here, I've got nothing to go back to, but still…"

I glanced at Tom when Jeremy said this, and Tom looked at me. _I will follow you forever, _his eyes told me.

I shivered. I had seen those same eyes in Oscar, in my Nadarlets, and now they were dead.

"They will follow her," Tom said quietly. "We owe her that much."

Jeremy shrugged. "Whatever you say."

I took a deep breath, and then let it out, when a voice rang out behind me.

"Princess," the voice said. I turned to see Taylor.

"I…" she said hesitantly. "I don't want to be a part of this council – I mean, I don't think I should. But I would like to serve you."

She looked at me, and I saw her eyes, hungry for forgiveness for her sins against Tobias, for her sins against her mother, against a species that was virtually helpless against the Yeerks.

"Follow me," I said. "We'll find a Home World that will accept both of us," and she nodded and bowed her head.

I looked up to see that Alexa had gone. "Where'd Alexa go?"

"I'm here," she said from behind me. We all turned around to see Alexa coaxing John to his feet. The boy had been freed from the Yeerk, but since he has been a slave for almost all his life, he was just learning how to walk and talk on his own at age four.

"I've decided to appoint myself guardian of the Kyan," the Biolex told me as she held John's hand. "I don't know where we are going, or what we are going to end up doing, but I'll throw my lot in with you, Maya. Don't always expect me to agree with what you're doing, but you have my trust for now. My loyalty you'll have to earn."

I nodded, taking in all her words as a leader should, and then I reached down and held out my hand for John to take. Such a little boy… he had almost cost me _my _freedom, almost broken me as a Nadar.

This is our mission, I realized. A mission so that all John's, all children, all mortals everywhere can be free. So they can stand and look up at the sky and say as Tom told me today, _We are free at last._

_How's that for nobility?_ I thought triumphantly as our ship continued to glide through the star-lit sky.

**Review Responses**

**Beekiller **– Yes, Maya will need friends. Lots of them, too, as things go on. And Tom and Maya I'm leaving up in the air. :grins: And here's what happens with Xelaman!

**A-cat **– Glad you like it. :grins and hugs back: And of course, who else would I dedicate it to? And questions about John are answered in this chapter. And glad you liked the scene with Tom and the Yeerk. I'm struggling right now with all these people to give them well-defined characters, so that might not come for a few chapters yet but hopefully by the end they'll be fleshed out. And Alexa questions! You might want to re-read that meeting part in the 1st chapter since Wraithlord added some stuff which I in turn added upon, concerning Alexa. Right now I'm having her remain almost like in one of the Megamorphs, where they go through time but can't die.

And all the moral stuff will be fun to work out. Currently I'm having Alexa decide, so if she decides to "go to the Dark Side" then it really stinks for the rest of the world. She has free will to a certain extent – but I'll be writing this and developing as it goes along. :smiles: And here's the next chapter!

**Raptor – **Oh, no, did the woman seem that young? I didn't think I had given any hints as to how young or old she was. Could you tell me what made you think she was young? I might have put something there inadvertently.

And oh, about the Chee, I believe that there is the one book 53, where Marco is told by Jake to go get one of the Chee, who are staying underground. They are essentially trapped since the city has been blown to rubble. So as far as I'm aware, it was in Applegate's books although I might have gotten that wrong. And it was mentioned in the first chapter of the Princess that Jenny has been destroyed.

As for your last question, all will be revealed. Or as I like to say when these questions come up, CHEESE! And thanks! I'm actually finding that right now, I seem to be losing some of my zeal that had brought me up this far, so I hope to keep it fueling because I've got so much more to write and I don't want to let it trail off without concluding all the series. Perhaps when I'm out of this transition stage (I always hated writing transitions) I'll feel more encouraged to keep going. Anyway, thanks for your review!

**Eyes of Forest **– Aw, I'm sorry. Yeah, Maya did have a rough past. And thanks, glad to be cooler than sliced bread. :grins: But a plague? I'm afraid I don't understand…

**FOL **– Thanks for the cookie, and the review, and here's the next chapter!

**Hey **– Oh, that's not for a couple chapters yet.

**Birdie **– No problem. Glad it made you smile. :grins: And yup, Jeremy is Wraithlord's very own. And actually, I kind of have a livejournal. It's nadarpics, but I was going to use it only to upload pictures and stuff for these fics, so I really don't have anything there. Sorry!

**Elwing **– You got it! I try to summarize in some of my fics, but Maya's had such a long history that sometimes it's difficult. If you have time sometime this summer, I'd advise reading through Maya's early history because this will probably make more sense with it. And I mean take as in both those cases, yeah. And Xelaman is pronounced with a Z. And glad you liked that chapter – here's the next one!

**Tabatha **– I'm so glad to have you back. :hugs: And glad everything is turning out okay for you. Congratulations! And here's the next chapter.


	3. Vampire Spiders

Chapter 3: Vampire Spiders

_From: aristhxel at chee dot net_

_To: princess at chee dot net_

_Re: Aging_

_Time: 20:24 DATE ERROR YEAR ERROR_

_Princess,_

_I understand that you were curious as to the differences between Andalaki (yes, I invented the word) aging and human aging. If you would like to meet sometime to explore these differences, I am at your service. I spent much of my time as a youth exploring different alien species, and by coincidence or fate or the gods, humans happened to one of my avenues of study._

_To start, I will state that humans mature much more quickly than we do. A human takes one year to mature the same amount that takes us five years. Nevertheless, our intelligence is not affected by this – we are brilliant because we have Andalaki brains, not because we are any older or more mature than a human. And with this in mind, I will use a simple chart to illustrate._

_An Andalaki, at ages 0 to 5, has the maturity of a ten-year-old human._

_Ages 5 to 10: an 11 year old_

_10 to 15: 12_

_15 to 20: 13_

_And it continues on. For example, I have lived forty-one years. This is the age of my body (which is different from a mental age, which I consider the true age. Humans generally don't need to worry about this, for their mental and physical ages are almost always the same) while my mental age, by following the aforementioned chart, is eighteen. I am therefore an eighteen-year-old human._

_If you do not mind, I would like to spend some time with you to ascertain your mental, or true age. You are a curious phenomenon, seeing as you have essentially become a human and yet you were born an Andalaki._

_Aristh Xelaman_

I leaned over the panel, trying to make sense of the data that the ship was pulling up. "What's going on?" I asked Jenny, who was busily punching buttons and scanning plasma screens.

"We're investigating each planet," she explained. "To look for the ideal setting for us. A place where all of us can live comfortably together."

I snorted. "Why don't we just go back to Earth, then? All of us seemed to live fine back there. I mean, what species do we have onboard? Humans, Yeerks, Hork-Bajir, Biolex, Ssintha, and Andalaki."

"Andalaki?" Keav asked, who was also there. She looked bored, having nothing to do while the ship was an autopilot, orbiting a planet. "Don't you mean Andalite?"

"Xelaman explained it me," I told her. "He said that Andalites and Elemaki were so estranged that they began to use the names for their races as if they were different species. It's as if back on Earth there was no word 'human', only Asian or Caucasian or African or whatever, and that you couldn't identify yourself with someone of a different race as the same species as you since there was no word for it. So Xelaman decided to invent this new word to describe the two _races_ on the Andalite Home World, making Andalaki the species name."

"Don't you mean Andalaki Home World then?" Jeremy wondered idly, twirling a Dracon beam in one hand.

I shook my head. "No. It's their Home World. The Elemaki have been persecuted too much there to consider the Andalite Home World as theirs, also. We don't even have a continent to call our own, only an abandoned island that we were forced onto to escape for our lives."

"Aren't you half and half?" Tom asked. "I thought your father was an Andalite, your mother an Elemaki."

"Well," I said, "It's kind of like slavery in America during the 1800's, and afterwards. You were still black even if you only had a single black grandparent. The Elemaki all have some amount of Andalite blood in them – half of us are probably rape victims – but if you even have one drop of Elemaki blood, you're an Elemaki."

"Okay, this planet won't work," Alexa declared. She was helping Jenny analyze the data that was coming up. "The climate's all wrong. Unless we could cultivate about a tenth of the planet's surface, we wouldn't make enough resources to sustain a large community of Elemaki, especially with those wimpy plains."

"Um, exactly _how _many Elemaki are we expecting to sustain?" Jeremy asked sarcastically. "I see a total of one half Elemaki turned human in front of me, and two Andalites. That doesn't call for much sustenance."

Unperturbed, Alexa explained. "I'm thinking long term. We aren't going there just to live as a community of about thirty mortals, excluding myself."

"Well, aren't you special," mumbled Jeremy irritably, but Alexa cut him off, continuing with, "I expect that eventually the Elemaki are all going to immigrate to this planet, along with an excess human population as well as other alien species."

"So we're going to be like America," I said. "Made up of immigrants."

"Or Australia, made up of convicts and murderers," grinned a certain Brit.

"Exactly."

"Erm. Yay?"

I rolled my eyes at Jeremy as Keav took control of the ship and lifted us out of orbit and back into Z-space and then back out again, to a different planet. "Well, I hope we don't inadvertently commit genocide against the natives along the way, like the settlers of America did," I said, and Keav glanced at me.

"I hope you're a bit stronger about that hope than you sound," she told me, and I assured her that I was.

"Although I think it would be xenocide," Alexa told me. "We are working with species now. And also, some of these acts of genocide against the American Indians _were _purposeful."

"True," I stated. "But I don't think it was on the same scale as, say, the Cambodian genocide."

"All that means is that it took longer," Jeremy added. "I mean, if you compare Rwanda to Darfur, the killings in Darfur are much slower than the killings in Rwanda. Both are genocides, though, even if you stretched one out to take two hundred years."

"Do you all have some obsession with genocides?" asked Alexa. "I knew Nadar didn't really hold life in high regard, but still…"

(Children, children, can we not play nice?) broke in Solethi. (What the Earthling settlers did is none of our concern.)

"Actually," Tom said. "It _is_ a concern because we could be descending down on a planet whose natives are not as technologically advanced as we are. I doubt that any of us would advocate committing xenocide purposefully, but who knows, maybe something that we can recover from easily, a common cold, can kill the species that's there originally."

"It _is_ Australia, then," Jeremy muttered. "But I think you're all missing out on the only solution. Land on an uninhabited planet."

But at that moment a console beeped. Alexa and Jenny rushed to it, and then stopped and stared.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Is this planet the perfect planet for our odd mix of species to inhabit? Along with having no original inhabitants?"

Alexa turned to look at me. "Maya," she said. "This planet has humans on it. We put human DNA as something to search for on a whim, and the computer has locked in on it. There are _humans _on this planet."

There was a rush as we all struggled to look at the console, when someone asked, "What's that other thing in the 'Sentient Species' box?"

Jenny pushed a button, and a hologram of a huge spider-like creature materialized.

"Lovely," Jeremy commented. "Any arachnophobes back there?"

(Vampire Spider,) a voice echoed, and we turned to see Xelaman outside the cockpit that we had unofficially designated as a meeting space. Cassie's barn, I thought wryly.

About three people rolled their eyes at what sounded to them like a B-movie cliché.

"Tell us about them," Jenny said, and I glanced at her, noting her readiness to absorb the information.

Xelaman closed his eyes and then opened them. (Their history is quite common, although their reproduction methods are not so widespread. They reproduce by removing one of their legs, known as the spore leg, because it has up to ten spores on it. A significant amount of blood is placed in each spore, and then young Vampire Spiders emerge after a period of ten days.)

"Blood?" Alexa said, as if making the point clear. "What kind of blood?"

(Any blood will do,) Xelaman said, before continuing. (They have two races, much like the Andalites and the Elemaki, only on their Home World, the superior race feeds off of the inferior race. These are_ Vampire_ Spiders, and they live on blood.)

No one pointed out the similarities these Vampire Spiders had to Nadar. After all, for Nadar "living on blood" was just a poetic if disturbed allusion to our murderous behavior. For these Vampire Spiders, it was a literal description.

(The inferior race is allowed to reproduce to a certain extent to replenish the superior race's food supply, as well as allowing for a slave system to flourish.)

"Sounds miserable," Keav commented, the ship now firmly in orbit.

(Yes, it is. So miserable, in fact, that a rebellion occurred on the Home World and the members of the superior race that survived were forced to flee. They took a number of the inferior race to feed off of, and escaped. That is the extent of my knowledge about these creatures' history.)

"So…" I started. "I guess we assume that these creatures hopped over to Earth, saw that the humans were even more vulnerable, abducted a bunch and then hopped over here?"

"Well, for all we know the humans could have beaten them and then enslaved _them_," Tom suggested.

I shook my head. "Humans don't know how to get into space without alien help or alien abduction."

No human bristled at this, and I took it to mean that they accepted their vulnerability. Humans had come this close to being enslaved by an alien race – and it was alien technology, namely the morphing power, that had saved them.

"Tell me about the fighting habits of these Vampire Spiders," I told Xelaman. "What are their weaknesses and strengths?"

Keav interrupted before Xelaman began. "I'm assuming that this means we're going to land on this planet? I mean, if we're assessing their weaknesses and figuring out how to fight these aliens, then…"

"I think we're going a bit too fast," Alexa said quietly. "I understand that as humans you are revolted by the idea of a creature living off of blood, but these Vampire Spiders may not have a choice."

"We won't do anything rash," I promised. "I just want to hear what Xelaman has to say, and then we'll make a decision. Go ahead, Xelaman."

He nodded. (These creatures have a specific natural weapon – their ability to enwrap a creature in their sticky webs. These webs can be shot out at great distances, and totally prevent the captured creature from moving, or even morphing, since they also induce the creature into a sort of temporary paralysis. However, the biggest weakness of these Vampire Spiders is their speed. Their fastest pace is the jogging of a twenty-year-old human. Children and the aged they can overcome, but if you are young, and can run quickly, you are safe. Unfortunately, the Vampire Spiders have a much longer endurance level than a human, so if safety is not nearby, the Vampire Spider will most probably overtake the human.)

"Stop," Alexa insisted. "Stop stop stop. Listen to yourself. You've already decided that these Vampire Spiders are the enemy. Why don't you go down there and figure out who they are, as a People? Won't it be a lot better – and easier – to simply make a treaty with them?"

"But we don't know how their minds work," Jeremy responded. "Are they capable of making and keeping treaties? Do they see time the way we do: past, present and future? Right now we're going to go down because there are humans down there, and we do have a pathetic species loyalty. If these Vampire Spiders are abusing them, then the Vampire Spiders are our enemy."

"But why does it matter what species you are?" she asked. "There are wicked humans, as well. Do you align yourself with them, simply because they are human?"

"Would I get paid?"

I put my head between my hands. "Okay. Enough morals. Enough complicated thoughts. Like Jeremy said, we'll go with what's true right now, whether that is right. We do have a loyalty to humans, if only because we are humans. That's a fact, whether it's right or not. So we will go down to see that these humans are, at the very least, free. And that they're permitted to live."

"Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness," Tom murmured. I glanced at him, and said, "Well, we can't promise the pursuit of happiness, not right now, but maybe we can work on that later."

"To get technical," Keav said, leaning forward, "It would be life, liberty and property. _That's _what Locke said. _That's _what your government is required by social contract with the people to protect. But for some reason you Westerners link property/money with the pursuit of happiness."

"Guilty as charged," said Jeremy, without looking up. "Didn't some actor once say that happiness is a warm gun?"

Did we Animorphs ever go off on so many tangents? I thought irritably. We're trying to figure out what to do on a new planet, to start over on a new life and we're talking about John Locke and the impact he had on the West?

Well, this new group of seven did know more than we did. We're older than the original thirteen-year-olds that the Animorphs started out as. So of course if we get bogged down in philosophical discussions that should be taking place in a classroom I should expect it to be normal.

I looked up to realize that everyone was quiet, waiting for me to speak. I flashed a smile at them. "Sorry. I'm expecting you to act like soldiers on automatic and I'm beginning to feel like a frustrated professor instead."

Alexa said gently, "I think it's because each of us in this room has a different goal for this planet that we're orbiting right now. If you're feeling frustrated, Maya, it's probably because some of us aren't expecting the same things as you."

I sighed. "Alright. Let's go around and state what each person expects. What are your goals for this planet?"

Jeremy spoke up instantly. "Work out the weaknesses of these spider freaks, land, let our high-and-mighty ethics professors decide whether the humans are living in acceptable conditions, and if they're not, and if the Vampire Spiders are the ones preventing them, kill everything with eight legs or more."

Keav was next. "Convert this planet to a home for our community to live in, with or without the Vampire Spiders."

Tom said, "I'm with Keav and Jeremy. We can do both."

"Okay," Alexa said. "My turn. My goal is the same as Keav's in the short term. But in the long run, I want something more. I want a great civilization and I know that we have the seeds to start it."

She turned towards me. "Maya, there's something in you that can bring this about. Beneath everything, I know that there's something in you that'll allow for this vision to come about. It may include killing the Vampire Spiders, it may include killing the humans, but it won't be for something base. When I spoke of the Elemaki, I said it because they're a part of this dream. All wandering species, everyone hoping for something new to turn their lives around. That's what I want."

"And it has to be peaceful," she continued. "We could be like the Romans, the Spartans, and have a great civilization that died because it was too fat, drunk on the blood of thousands. Maybe I seem like a really annoying prick at times, but that's because _that's_ my goal. We have the potential and I don't want to lose it because you can't see through any eyes but those of a Nadar."

Solethi chuckled, and his thought-speech followed instantly. (A very nice speech, Alexa.) She smiled at him. (And if we're all settled, I propose that we land.)

"I second that," Tom called out, and Keav turned to bring the ship down.

"Land somewhere further away from a Vampire Spider community," I cautioned. "We don't want to land in their backyards and scare them into killing us."

Keav pointed at a lake that was showing up on the map of the planet. "I'm thinking about landing there. Near the shores of that lake. I don't know whether the water is consumable by humans or not, but at the very least we can test it."

I gave her a thumbs up, and then wandered out of the cockpit. Jeremy and Alexa were arguing about morality and shotguns – _again _– but Tom was actually talking to Taylor who had been waiting outside of the cockpit for me. I smiled. It almost seemed like she wanted to be my bodyguard, but she had to wait a long time before she could learn to fight as well as I did.

Then again, it had been a month since I had trained at all. I had the instincts, but definitely needed to brush up.

(Princess,) Xelaman said at my side, and I turned to greet him with, "Oh, I got your email. Yeah, I am kind of curious as to how old I am mentally… this body is sixteen years old, so I go by that age, but I was unaware of the age differences between humans and Andali…aki, so you said you could help me out there?"

His stalk eyes smiled. (Well, to start, you were eight years old, in Andalaki years, when you landed on Earth, correct?) I nodded, and he continued. (That would make you an eleven-year-old human. You lived for eight years on Earth, and during that time you matured as a human, thus making you nineteen years old.)

I laughed. "So in this tricky time shifting universe I am actually older than you are?" He nodded and smiled.

"But… I actually lived for longer on Earth than eight years, didn't I? I mean, I became a five-year-old human, so I actually lived on Earth for eleven years."

(Actually,) he corrected, (When you mixed your morph with Anna, you gained those three years that you had lost, thus making your stay on Earth only eight years.)

I shook my head and sighed. "I think I'll stick to being sixteen years old. It's less complicated that way. I already have to deal with whether I'm a human or not, I'd rather not deal with the age issue as well."

(Very well,) Xelaman responded. (And I shall stick to being eighteen years old. I think on this ship, since the majority of us _are _human, we can go by the human aging system.)

"By the way," I said, "How did you learn all that about me?"

(The entire ship knows your history,) Xelaman said, obviously surprised that I didn't know this. (The memories that Tom's Yeerk took from you were distributed, with the intent of showing the hosts how far you could be broken. The hosts speak of your past as if it were the past of a god, and they are not shy about sharing your godhood with me.)

I shook my head. "I'm no god. Can you imagine what they'd sacrifice to me? I can see it now, the Nadar Goddess Maya whose statue demands bloodied hands and bloodied bodies to be killed before her."

(You underestimate yourself,) Xelaman told me quietly, and I shrugged. He only knew me as the scared if impulsive five-year-old, not as the murderous and bloodthirsty Nadar princess.

**Review Responses**

Sorry that I've been gone awhile. I've been hopping from summer camp to summer camp, so haven't really had a chance to sit for any extensive time at a computer.

**Hey **– Um. Hope you're having fun at Gov School!

**Birdtears **– Hey, you caught up! And yeah, it was a good thing that you read them in order. Thanks for the review and hope you like this chapter!

**Elwing **– A Nadar… a general term for a warrior is the better definition, although it gets more in depth. If you want a good sense of what a Nadar is, I'd read The Nadar Chronicles Part I: Andalite Home World. That gives a pretty good definition. But for now, it's a bloodthirsty warrior who loves to fight and kill. And if you do want to read her early history, which I definitely encourage, start with The Elemaki Chronicles, and work your way up to the more recent fics. They go in chronological order, so they make much more sense that way. Either way, here's the next chapter and thanks for your review!

**DH **– Their homeworld is something that's definitely going to be a much played upon theme. And Alexa… I have her in there for a number of reasons, which will come out later on. I don't want to give anything away, so when I get to the later parts of this chronicle, tell me if your opinion of her is changed at all, okay? And especially by the later fics, but… I'll hand out cheese packets for now. :grins: And yup, Jeremy is very much based on Wraithlord. He helps me out a ton with his character, too!

And as for why the Yeerk wasn't killed instantly – he still is valuable, as a possible hostage and for information. My kind of vague idea that I didn't really enunciate was that since Jenny got him in her head, for her to remove him would most certainly mean death for him, which she can't participate in. And sorry about the confusion – I always have trouble with transitions. And I had the title given on the spur of the moment. Not all Nadar are Andalites, and the Nadar were the ones who suggested it, and it's also almost a "stick it in your face I'm an Elemaki and a war-princess" kind of thing. And like I said about Alexa, more of her will be explained as the fic continues. And of course you have a dedication. :grins:

**HFN **– Yeah, sorry, not much action. Not going to have much action for a little while yet. The Animorphs will show up in three years or so – remember, it's only been a month since the Animorph War officially ended since Rachel was killed. Anyway, thanks for your review and hope you like this chapter!

**Toby **– That was something I struggled with, actually – how to get the point across that Maya was in no position to judge Xel, while at the same time making it realistic enough. I think I erred in making the point. And perhaps she does still hate him – but a lot of things have happened since she was five. Maybe I didn't make this clear enough, but I had her, as a child, extend her hatred of Xel to all Andalites, and eventually to anyone who hurt her in any way. But she _has _grown somewhat and so I thought it would be okay.

And Alexa, as shown in this chapter, explains herself in a way. I want Alexa that way, too, because it prevents her from being absolutely perfect – you know, the mediator who knows everything that is right and can say all the right things. She's not God, and makes mistakes, and isn't going to be the "perfectly likable Mary-Sue." You know what I mean? I can definitely see where you're coming from, though, and I'll watch that in the future. Thanks!

I had Maya apologize to Alexa in thought-speak just to smooth things over. I mean, if she did it out loud, people would ask why, and it would drag on and on. And glad you liked it! Here's the next chapter – thanks for your review!

**Raptor – **Oh, perhaps. I honestly didn't intend for her to seem young, although maybe by the end her demeanor will be explained better. There is a reason that the woman sounds the way she does, but that would be going into the whole story, so cheese!

:grins: And no problem. Everything is welcome, or at least accepted. And thank you so much! I really do appreciate that. I've never read the Turtledove, but I'll take it as a recommendation and check him out.

Yes, Alexa. She's been getting a lot of attention. :grins: If you cut her evenly in half, only one side would regenerate – the bigger side. If you blew her up, the biggest cell would grow into her regular self. As long as you have the basic DNA intact, _somewhere, _she will survive. And the Chee haven't been altered – they're still completely nonviolent.

I'm having Xel lead a command because he is a warrior. He knows fighting, and has seen action, which is something that not many of the others on the ship have done, except as a Controller. He is a part of the council, though.

And thanks! The colonization/invasion will come next chapter, but so glad that you liked this one. Thanks for your review!

**A-cat **– Yeah, sorry we're still not there. Next chapter though, don't worry!

And glad you liked that scene! I'm going to have fun writing Alexa. :grins: And yeah, Jeremy is getting really filled out as a character in these fics. :points to Wraithlord: I asked him for help working with Jeremy since it's basically based off of him, and he's doing a great job. And now that you mention it, I wasn't thinking of Alexa having an official title like Guardian of the Kyan, but I like it too!

And yeah, we'll have more bickering here before Maya learns to work with her team. One thing I thought a little odd about Jake – he was just so perfect. No troubles at all leading. But anyway, glad you liked the last one and hope you like this one!

**Eyes of Forest **– Oh, gotcha. And as for planning to settle – wow, you read my mind. That's like a huge chunk of this chapter. :grins: And yeah, bloodshed will always follow the Nadar. Anyway, thanks for your review and here's the next chapter!

**Tabatha **– Glad you got a chance to tell me so! Thanks, and I hope you like this chapter.


	4. Breeding Humans

Chapter 4: Breeding Humans

_From: princess at chee dot net_

_To: biolexa at chee dot net_

_Re: Children_

_Date: 9:11 01/01/01_

_Ah, it's nice to have dates and times back. According to Jen, the Chee weren't sure what date or year to put on the messages because it would depend on which planet we chose to land on. Well, we've landed on a planet with seven months in a year and it's Year 1, After Nadar or A.N. Mark it in your calendars, because it's going to be the day that the universe changed._

_Yeah, I know I'm being melodramatic. Only around you, of course, after your lovely speech explaining to my troublesome council all my capabilities. Now they'll be expecting even more perfection from me._

_Anyway, this isn't what I wanted to talk to you about. I needed to know how many children you are currently taking care of, their ages, that sort of thing. Get back to me as soon as possible, okay?_

_Maya_

------

I held my breath as Keav gently touched down next to a beautiful blue and gold lake. A new planet… it had all the right resources to sustain a civilization of many different species, and on top of that it seemed almost untouched by any industry.

Alexa volunteered to go out first, to see whether there was anything that would try to instantly kill us. I gave her my permission, and when she signaled from outside that it was safe, we opened the doors and all of us flooded out.

"Don't go anywhere," I had told the crowd. "Stay put. We'll figure out what to do next."

I turned towards Jeremy who was breathing in the new air. "This is a nice place," he confessed. "It looks almost untouched. I guess the Vampire Spiders lost some of their industrial equipment on their way out of their Home World because this planet is truly in the Agricultural Age."

"Funny how we always link that age with pristine beauty but also with utter ignorance," Keav commented and I nodded my agreement.

"Let's keep it this way," Tom said. "We have all the knowledge of the Information Age – I think we can skip the Industrial Age or at least go through it without all the smoke and pollution and the abuse of the factory workers that Earth went through. And if we're planning to live here, we probably want it to keep it nice."

"That means no chemical weapons," Xelaman said, almost awkwardly from his human mouth. I turned to glance at him – a young eighteen-year-old boy, whose morph had been a Forsil Maneuver between two young men, one black, one white, and a young woman who was Thai. He looked at me and then carefully smiled, as if picking up each muscle individually. His skin color was a dark brown, although his facial features were quite Asian.

What do I look like now? I wondered. An Asian girl at first, and then I mixed in two white girls. My face still retained some of Eun-hee's features, I knew, but my skin and height were definitely Caucasian, and my hair was a light brown as well. Rachel's very blonde hair had lightened it considerably, I thought with a smile.

"No chemical weapons," he repeated. "Chemical weapons. Pons."

I laughed out loud, remembering Aximili, and then breathed in the air again. The land looked as America must have when the European settlers first stepped out onto the continent, and I laughed again.

"It's so _alive,_" I said aloud. No buildings anywhere, just empty, beautiful plains. Further away I could see mountains, dark spots in the distance that had to be forests, and beautifully healthy trees that stood and grew proudly. "Did anyone live here before the Vampire Spiders came? It's such a beautifully empty place – nobody would have left this beauty alone."

(An excellent observation,) Solethi remarked. (It would be good to keep in mind, Princess, that there may be natives here who are not technologically advanced enough to use the land as we do, natives who would have not been recognized by the DNA tracker if they had been isolated enough.)

"Isn't it sad that we automatically link technological advancement with abuse of the land?" I asked. Keav began to quibble with me about the difference between _using _and _abusing _but I wasn't really paying attention. _Maybe I like this planet so much because it reminds me so much of Earth and the Andalite Home World, all mixed together…_

Why would I _like _it then? I wondered briefly, when Tom cut into my thoughts by talking to Solethi. "So, these Vampire Spiders were picked up, weren't they? Where are they now?"

Tom's question made me jerk back to attention. "Yes. We'll send scouts out to decide what relationship the humans have with these spiders."

I designated Jeremy to go with his group of six along with a Chee to hide them, and then joined Taylor who was sitting on the ground with the other twenty-four, all of them working out something.

"What are you doing?" I asked her. She turned her beautiful face towards me.

"Designing tents. We're going to need something to live in, and you're going to need the ship for more than just living quarters, especially if the other humans come and join us."

"We can make it," a Chee told me. "We can use their designs and then use the material on the ship to create one long circle of tents."

"A circle of tents?" someone asked.

"Yes," Jenny broke in. "All the tents will be connected in one large circle, with partitions that can be removed in case people need to be moved in or out of a certain area. Here's a sketch."

She drew a circle, symbolizing the lake, and then drew another circle that cut partially through it, like a Venn diagram. "We'll set up out tents along this line," she said, pointing at the second circle. "We'll have some tents right next to the water, but this way we can have access to the lake. The water is drinkable, by the way, Princess," she said to me. "We tested it."

I nodded and then turned towards the People. First step, build tents.

"Let's do it."

-----

It didn't take that long, with the machine-like efficiency that the Chee had. Well, the design wasn't that difficult, either – a piece of cloth that was draped over a horizontal rods which was held up a magnetic carpet that was had placed on the ground. The cloth was stretched out at a forty-five degree angle, and then two more horizontal rods were used on either side to keep the cloth from collapsing inward.

In the end it allowed for enough space for about five people to sleep comfortably. It wouldn't be anything close to a five star hotel, but it was enough.

We had made about five of these, and I was ridiculously proud that we hadn't used a single natural resource from the planet. Sure, we were probably upsetting the ecosystem just by being there, but something about this planet made me want to leave it untouched, at least for now. We were using materials that we got from the ship, and although we had pretty much plundered the soft fluffy white leaves to use it for cloth, no trees had been cut, no dirt had been plowed, and I liked it that way.

We were starting our sixth tent when Jeremy came back with his scouts.

"Council of war," he called laconically, and I instantly left the tent making to Taylor's care and waved the other members of the council after me.

"We had a good look at what passes for civilization around here," he said, as soon as we were all inside the ship's cockpit. "The humans are slaves to these Spiders."

There'll be bloodshed before the sun sets, I thought, and then nodded for him to continue.

"The Spiders are using slave labour to build what looks like a fortress. The Spider colony, or what looks like it, is right next to a rock quarry, so the resources are all there and they're building the fortress almost on top of the quarry."

"How big is it?" Tom asked.

"It's big. Big enough to shelter all three hundred of these humans and a whole lot more besides. I think the Vampire Spiders are setting building their headquarters for a long-term settlement, and they want it to be big enough to fit all of their servants in it. They aren't half done with the fortress though, and it's pretty primitive – no visible weapons. Keav and I could go up in the Blade ship's shuttle and raze it to the ground with a few dozen Dracon salvoes."

(The ship's name is _Hope_,) Xelaman reminded Jeremy, obviously perturbed that the human was so flippant about what the ship was called. _(Hope.)_

Jeremy waved his reminder away. "I don't care if it's _Hope, Liberty, _or _Pandora's Box_, as long as it can fly and shoot."

(Pandora's Box?)

"Never mind," I said quickly. "But Jeremy, we're missing something here. What is this fortress _for_?"

"The Princess is right," Keav said instantly. "If these Vampire Spiders didn't have an enemy, they wouldn't need this fortress."

"Who is their enemy, though?" Alexa asked. "We haven't seen anything remotely threatening. No large native predators, no sentients."

Jeremy shook his head, dismissing all of our concerns. "We can talk about that later. My point is, this crowd of three hundred human slaves is only guarded by thirty of these spiders. We could be in and out before they knew what hit them. This would be the cleanest rescue mission since Skorzeny pulled Mussolini out of the Gran Sasso."

"Well," Tom said, "Whoever the spiders' enemy is, it sure doesn't seem interested in humans. I mean, thirty guards for three hundred slaves?"

"The slaves _are_ chained up," Jeremy said.

(Why are they being so careless?) Solethi wondered out loud. (It would be so easy to free these humans.)

"My guess is that these Vampire Spiders are used to an enemy who didn't try and free the humans," Alexa stated. "And so they aren't prepared to deal with an enemy who will try."

"Indeed," Jeremy said. "I seriously doubt it's occurred to the Spiders that an army of Nadar might drop in at any time."

"Okay," I said. "So this will only take at the most, one unit of six, seven, counting the Aristh."

(Never underestimate your enemy,) Xelaman quoted, and I grinned wryly. "Alright, Jeremy, you and Keav take your unit up on the _Hope. _Blast the spiders out of there. I'll follow on the _Liberty _with everybody else – as long as we're being paranoid, we might as well go all the way – and when your report comes in that you've shredded the Vampire Spiders, I'll move in. We'll pull the humans back here on the _Liberty_."

"It'll be a tight squeeze," commented Tom, but Xelaman reminded him that the grazing areas on the _Liberty _could contain human passengers as well.

Alexa raised her hand. "Um, question. Why are we killing these Vampire Spiders? And before you all jump on me for not being bloodthirsty enough, just think about it. There are more Vampire Spiders out there. If we can get a live prisoner, we may be able to bargain. We'll at least have the DNA to analyze, and maybe we can work something out with them."

"Good point," I admitted. "Jeremy, don't kill them, just knock them out."

"With ship-mounted D-cannon? You've got to be joking," he snorted, but obediently left the cockpit, followed by Keav. We followed them swiftly, and I explained to the Nadar outside what we were doing.

Their grim and serious faces satisfied me and we all climbed onto the _Liberty, _taking the tents we had made with us.

When we lifted off, it was as if we had never been there.

Jeremy's report crackled in a few minutes later.

"Okay, we're done," he said. "Managed to stun them with the cannon by doing something to the particle-wave effect – I don't know how this stuff works, but it seemed to do the job. We're coming in for a landing now. The humans looked pretty startled when we showed up, but now they're cheering."

At least we'll be welcomed, I thought, as Xelaman took our ship's controls and piloted it towards the quarry.

----

When I stepped out of the _Liberty, _a hush went over the crowd. For a moment I was disconcerted, but then I realized that the way I had exited (with Taylor on side and Tom on the other, both armed) I must have looked like the leader that I now was.

Jenny gave me a sort of megaphone, and I held it in my hand to address the slaves, as Hork-Bajir struck their poorly produced chains off.

I paused for a moment, wondering what to say. I didn't have a speech on me, but it was obvious that these people were looking for something from me. Don't say something inane, I told myself, and with that bit of advice opened my mouth.

"We are the Nadar Army," I stated, the words coming out as quickly as I could think them. An army of killers… no, I shouldn't say that.

"We are looking for a Home World," I said finally, "This planet has opened its arms to us" – one of my Nadar snorted quietly - "and we mean to stay. The Nadar have wandered for many years, and this is the first time that any Nadar has found a home."

I was getting sappy. Get to the point, Maya, I ordered myself sternly.

"I do not know of your situation, only that you were slaves to these Vampire Spiders. We have freed you now, and we will protect your freedom for as long as we live."

I paused to take a breath, when a cheer started below. It caught on and moved, rippling across the people the way that wind ripples across a prairie.

I caught my breath, and lifted a fist into the air, grinning triumphantly. The People needed this. They needed a moment to immortalize, for them to tell their children and their grandchildren, 'The Princess came and spoke to us of freedom, and we were free!'

And if there was any record of my private thoughts during this speech, I highly doubted that that they would ever be made public.

"We will take you on our ships, _Hope _and _Liberty,_" I said, knowing that the names of these two ships would hold much more symbolic meaning for these newly freed people. "We have found an area that we can settle in, that we can call a home and raise our children in."

I expected more cheering, or at least a contented sigh, but when I mentioned the word 'children' a sudden… _feeling _of shame came up to me from the crowd. The people looked down, shuffled their feet, and refused to look at me.

What had I said wrong?

Whatever. Just keep going, Maya.

"Will you join us?"

Then came the response I was looking for, the surge of people who rushed up to flood _Liberty_. I smiled, grasped hands, and then ordered in thought-speech for the Vampire Spiders to be locked in Ramonite cages. (Hook them onto the _Liberty _with tractor beams,) I ordered finally, and then joined the masses who had now taken up every corner of the ship. I smiled as I heard the original Controllers eagerly moving around the newcomers, telling them our story, telling them what a Nadar was, and telling them about me.

"Maya!" Alexa called, and I turned to see her waving frantically, while holding onto an older African woman. The woman appeared to be in her mid forties, and she smiled at me as I approached.

"What do you need?" I asked Alexa, who had dragged the two of us into the cockpit with Xelaman, Solethi, Tom, and Taylor.

She stopped, and pointed at the woman. "You explain."

"My name is Amadi," the woman said in accented English. "I am originally from Nigeria."

I nodded. "So, how did you and everybody get here?"

Amadi smiled sadly. "We were abducted from our homes when we were younger. It has been thirty years since I was last on Earth. A hundred or so of us are like me – the rest were born here."

I looked around. "There are about three hundred people here and it's been only thirty years? Were large families in fashion or something?"

"No, Princess," she said, surprising me by her use of my title. Alexa sent me an eyebrow message and I took that to mean that Alexa had filled her in on everything. I cocked my head at Amadi, willing her to explain further.

"We are bred," she said quietly, her still voice not easily hiding her anger. "As soon as a girl has her first period, a boy or a man, anyone who is still virile, is forced to impregnate her. After the girl gives birth, the cycle happens again."

I paused for a moment, starting at Amadi as I took this in. "What!"

"There is no marriage, Princess," Amadi told me in dead seriousness. "There are no families. No husbands, no wives. Only your next mate, and your children who you know from sight but not as a parent should know a child. Your children, as soon as they are capable, are forced to breed as well."

She waved a hand out to the crowd. "Don't you see? More than half of the women here are pregnant. I am pregnant myself, although only for a month or so. The spiders," she spat, "Wanted a large working population. We cannot breed as quickly as they do, so we are forced to mate with as many other humans as possible."

Her hatred was easy to hear. Looks like I've got three hundred more Nadar, I thought silently. Three hundred Nadar who hate the Vampire Spiders violently.

"We will kill them," I heard myself saying.

"And we will kill them with you," Amadi promised.

**Review Responses**

**Elwing **– I'm guessing you'll like the spiders even less now. And human origin questions are answered in this chapter! And yeah, I guess the LOTR size will do. I think that has been in my subconscious since I read the books, so it seems natural that they'd turn out that way. And about the aging – ah, yes, I was trying to aim for something like that. But I didn't remember that equation, so I made one up. :hides: And go ahead! If you have a question about the earlier fics you should probably leave a review here since this is right now the only fic that I'm writing responses to the reviews. I hope you like them, and thanks for the review!

**HFN **– Your character should show up soon. I can't give a promise as to when, but I do have a place in mind. I already mentioned him, however, although he hasn't shown up yet. He's Keav's younger brother, Kim.

**A-cat **– Glad you like it. And are you surprised? I had tried to show how Xelaman changed, but maybe that didn't work out so well. And as for Elemaki – I had read those books before I started writing this, but it was subconscious. I think I had that word in my head, but couldn't remember from where, so just used it and then later I found out where it was from. :grins: And, oh, sorry about the math! I was having Andalites live about the same age as humans, except they'd be older since they age differently. And the dates will be explained in this email.

And I'll definitely have fun with the spiders. Alexa will come up more with the debates about that… And human origin questions are answered here, as well. And Maya does have goals… but she'll get into them later. Through other people. And yeah, Ssintha I'll explain later, too. :grins: And thanks, here's the next chapter!

**Beekiller – **I haven't gotten into describing the spiders in detail, but that'll come up soon. I'll be looking forward to your reaction about them! And yes, Tom and Maya are still up in the air. :grins:

**Raptor **– Oh, do you not like the Vampire Spiders? You seemed to have a… neutral reaction, at the least. And your conclusion about the spiders are relatively correct, except for the fact that the Nadar have superior technology. And in this situation, the element of surprise. But your predictions still definitely deserve cheese. :hands over cheese:

And oh, that wasn't the biggest reason why they were landing. The Nadar were looking for a Home World to settle down in, and this planet fit the requirements, besides having the added "there are humans down there! What are humans doing down there!" Sorry, it seems that I didn't make that clear enough. And apologies to the aging – it seems to have confused a lot of people. If you want to keep anything from that conversation, just keep in mind that Xel is 18. And that chapter wasn't exactly a transition chapter, which I do detest, but I was eager to land on the planet. I'm still feeling out this new universe that is mine, as opposed to the familiar Earth that we all know and love, so forgive me if I'm a little shaky. And glad you got it! I hope you get this chapter, although I don't think I will be posting as quickly. I'm still at summer camp so I still need to sneak in computer time. Sorry!

**Eyes of Forest **– You read my mind! Just for that, I'm giving you a tidbit instead of cheese. I'm breaking with tradition and uploading a fic that will go into the backgrounds of the Nadar Council, the six that are working with Maya. That's my next fic, and will go chronologically right after this chapter. So stay tuned for that. :grins:

And yes, spiders are of the evil. Especially these.

**Kaz **– Hey, just glad you got the chance to drop a review. I'll be waiting for you!


	5. The Traitor

Chapter 5: The Traitor

_From: Maya ( princess at chee dot net)_

_To: Jeremy ( reasonabledoubt at chee dot net)_

_Re: (no subject)_

_Time: 0234 01/02/01_

_Get over here, now._

------

NORA:

Nora wakes up at the sound of someone walking quietly passed the children. The three-year-old is on her feet instantly (more from habit than anything else) but she sees no one.

"What's wrong?" Alexa, the new guardian asks her. Nora likes Alexa better than the old guardian, who was mean and pushy and yelled at the children. The Vampire Spiders made him the guardian of the children because he was old and couldn't work in the quarry with the other adults. But Alexa isn't like that.

Nora isn't quite sure what's wrong, so she yawns instead and then drops back to the ground. She hears Alexa laugh quietly before she, too, drops back to the ground.

Nora pokes her new brother, John, in the elbow and his eyes snap open instantly. She giggles, and then John glares at her, but when Nora smiles John smiles back. She and John are brother and sister now. The other children have parents, even if they don't know who exactly they are, but she and John are special because both their parents are dead.

Her full name is Leonora, but everyone calls her Nora except, living now only in her memory, her parents. Nora remembers Amadi, the leader of slaves, speaking softly to the new leader about her.

"_Both her parents are dead. They're the only ones who managed to get to know each other well before their daughter was born, and then they tried to run away, the poor fools. The Spiders caught them, of course, but they committed suicide, leaving their daughter behind. Nora is the only child here who doesn't have a half brother or sister in that crowd."_

"_She's going to be my sister," John then said to the new leader, who glanced at Amadi who was laughing. _

"_It will be good for her, Princess," Amadi had explained. "Nora is a quiet girl for a three-year-old. Very serious, very sincere, and very bold."_

"_What races is she?" the leader had asked. "I know the Vampire Spiders picked up quite a diverse group of people, from pale blonde Norwegians to darker Nigerians like you, Amadi, but all of the children are of mixed races due to the forced breeding, correct?"_

"_Yes. Her mother was a tiny Chinese girl, only fourteen or so, and her father was about that age as well, and Indian," Amadi had said. "But the children don't know anything about race. That's something only we older folks care about."_

Nora is only three, but she knows there is something wrong with the leader. She is too young, for one thing. Much bigger people like Amadi listen to the new leader and they even call her _princess_ when she is so much smaller and younger than them.

But if Amadi trusts the new leader, than Nora will too. And if Alexa trusts the new leader, Nora will too. Amadi gave the children food when the Vampire Spiders forgot to, and Alexa makes sure that the children always have something to eat, even though no one else cares. And there are a lot of children. The orphaned generation, Nora heard Alexa murmur once. Nora doesn't know what an orphan is, but she knows that no one in this camp knows what to do with so many children, or even just one child. Only Alexa and Amadi and the Princess seem to know, and the Princess is busy with her fighters and Amadi is busy with the adults and only Alexa is left to be busy with the children.

Nora can't sleep so she gets up quietly, so quietly that even Alexa can't hear her. John does, though, and his eyes are open as Nora crawls away into the night.

She doesn't know where she is going, but after a while she gets up and starts walking a little. People are asleep everywhere, tossed over each other as if they fell asleep during the celebration.

The celebration was fun. Alexa let the children stay up later than the Vampire Spiders let them and the children danced too. Everyone drank the juice from the trees and they ate the rest of the food from the ships. The Princess didn't seem very happy about the eating and drinking, and she yelled at some of the couples who were dancing but she let it happen.

Nora was scared at first when the Princess began yelling. She told two of them, Keav and Jeremy, that they should remember that they were Nadar, and then she scolded Tom and Taylor, her commanders. Nora had hid behind John when the Princess began shouting, but John had told her it was okay, that the Princess was really a very nice person.

A sound startles Nora and she tears off and then suddenly she runs right into someone who lifts her up easily. She struggles, but it's useless, the man's grip is too strong and all she can think to do is scream but she doesn't because whenever the children screamed before the Vampire Spiders came and hurt them and -

"What the hell are you doing out here?" the man asks, more in surprise than anger and Nora opens her mouth to answer when an orb of pure light flies over them and explodes on the ground, sending achingly bright beams through the camp like some accelerated dawn.

The man throws her to the side and then gets on top of her. Nora panics because she knows, even at her age, what this means, but the man does nothing, simply holds her to the ground until the explosion is over.

Both of them get up and Nora looks at the man.

"Wonderful," he mutters. "This is a _great _situation, Jeremy. You know you're not good with kids."

Nora simply looks at him. Jeremy seems to notice to her, "Yeah, I'm not good with kids."

She notices a metal object, a gun, strapped to the man's thigh. She reaches out to touch it, and before she can blink, she finds herself staring at the business end of a Dracon beam.

"Sorry," Jeremy mumbles, before sliding the weapon back into its holster but he says nothing else as he looks at her.

Another flash lights up the camp and then another explosion, and Nora looks up in alarm when Jeremy suddenly grabs her and picks her up, balancing her on his side. He hesitates for a moment, and then pulls another gun from somewhere in his clothing. He hands it to her.

"I'm going to hold you with my right arm, and shoot with my left arm," he tells her. "And you're going to be the eyes on the back of my head. The Dracon beam is set on stun – if anything moves, shoot it."

Nora grasps it and holds onto it tightly. She doesn't understand everything that Jeremy is talking about, but she does know how to handle these new weapons. Alexa showed all of the children one day in case they would ever need to take up arms, but Nora could tell that Alexa was unhappy about teaching them.

But she knew. The three-year-old knew how to shoot and she would shoot whatever attacked them, just like Jeremy said.

MAYA:

I stumbled out of my tent with Tom and Taylor on either side just in time to see a bright flare of light hit directly in the center of our camp and explode, bursting into flames.

"What the hell is happening?" I shouted, but no one seemed to have an answer. Instead, another flare of light flew over us and hit a set of tents, setting them on fire.

I slapped myself a few times to wake myself up, and when that didn't work I told Tom to punch me in the face. He looked at me incredulously but I snapped at him to hurry up, so he did so and when a trickle of blood came out of my nose I finally snapped awake.

"Tom, get the Nadar ready," I ordered, and he understood that I meant "get our pathetic untrained wannabe-army some weapons and tell them to get together so we can go out and attack whoever this is."

It was almost certainly the Vampire Spiders, but I wanted to make sure. I started to order Taylor to gather the Kyan, the civilians, and start herding them away from the fight but realized it was pointless. The attack had caught us in our sleep, and the catapulted firebombs had effectively scattered all the Kyan.

What had I done that things could go so impossibly wrong?

I began morphing, and Taylor followed my lead. If my army couldn't group together in time, at least I would fight.

(Jenny,) I said, hoping that she was in range. (Mail Jeremy with my account and tell him to get over here, now. Send it to all the Chee so if he checks in with any of them he'll see it.)

I needed a sharpshooter badly and Jeremy was the best. And where was Keav? Not to mention the rest of my War Council…

I snorted through my Komodo dragon nostrils and then began running. Taylor was a panther next to me, almost invisible in the dark night. We would have to get everyone organized quickly… but who in the world was everyone? We had nobody, nobody, nobody.

A thousand nobodies rang through my head as I realized how unprepared we really were. There were seven of us who I knew for sure could actually fight.

And that was it.

_We're all going to die, _I thought grimly, before launching myself at a Spider that was dragging a child away.

It was as if I had never left Earth. Biting, scratching, bleeding, I tore voraciously into these alien creatures, relishing their blood and snapping at their limbs. Terrified face after terrified face loomed up before me and I rushed past them, attacking another alien.

_This is impossible, _I soon realized. I knew that I could fight until I dropped dead, but I couldn't stand against a swarm of Vampire Spiders.

We were going to have to retreat.

(PULL BACK!) I screamed as loudly as possible. (EVERYONE PULL BACK!)

(What?) I heard a million times. (What?)

(Pull back!) I insisted. (We have to re-group!)

Slowly, painfully, we turned away from the fight, me and everyone else who heard and began racing for beyond the lake, shouting the message of retreat to everyone nearby.

(Princess, I contacted Jeremy,) a voice broke into my skull. It was Jenny. (He's in the thick of it right now, and can't get out.) Flashes and inhuman screams from elsewhere in the camp told me the Nadar were doing what they did best – murder and mayhem.

(Does he have any idea what's happening?) I asked, without breaking my pace.

(He says that he thinks it's an attack by the Vampire Spiders, and that someone betrayed us.)

Shocked, I almost stopped running. (What?)

(He saw the fire bombs hit their targets – they were intended to create as much chaos as possible, and hit the most concentrated sleeping areas. They took out all the tents that we had made earlier. Also - )

(Where's Keav?) I demanded. (She should be up in one of our ships, either the _Liberty _or _Hope_ and be blasting these eight-legged freaks to death.)

(They're disabled.)

(_What?_)

(Someone smashed them up beyond repair. A human. The damage is careful, precise, and just enough.)

Great. Great great great great great.

(Princess, the Vampire Spiders are trying to kidnap as many children as possible,) another voice broke through. Xel. (I assume that they wish to start a new generation of slaves, ones with no memory of a previous freedom.)

For a moment I wished fleetingly that Jake was here. This wasn't for me. I wasn't the leader of an army, or even the guardian of a People. I was good at fighting with a small, closely-knit team.

And I always had a way to escape. Now, I was completely and utterly marooned.

(We'll get the children back,) I found myself telling Xel. (And we'll find the traitor,) I told Jenny.

And then we're never ever ever forgetting again that we're on a foreign planet, surrounded by enemies that are very willing to kill.

----

It turned out to be the longest night of my life.

Out of the thirty-odd morphables that escaped from the Blade Ship, only three died. Skilled enough to morph, and without any enemy Dracon beams to evade, they were able to morph and re-morph whenever they were injured.

Out of the three hundred former slaves, over a hundred were killed.

Around seventy people managed to retreat, and I organized them into groups of seven, armed with Dracon beams and a morphable in charge of each group. Each group of us went out hunting for any survivors, and for any Vampire Spiders to kill.

It was noon by the next day when the two hundred adult survivors gathered by the shores of the lake, the blood of humans and Spiders soaking into the grass.

Jenny and the other Chee had created a boat made out of force fields which they generated from their own energy. I was out in this boat, a little bit away from the crowd, using the natural amplification of the lake to speak.

We are an army, now, I told them. We are an army that will always be attacked, an army that will always need to be alert.

I split up the survivors into twenty groups of ten, and then organized it so there would be two morphables per each unit. Each member of my council except for myself and Alexa would be responsible for over-seeing two units, and the five would report to me. Alexa would be responsible for all the children who weren't drafted into the armies.

I would never be caught unprepared again.

They attacked the next night. And the next, and the next. Every single night until fighting became second nature for all of us, children included. Taylor and I arranged to have everyone take advantage of the morphing power, and pretty soon, all of us could morph and fight and kill.

Each weary morning we would rise, tend to the rice paddies that we had planted in the shallower parts of the lake, and then check the force field points. Jenny was the only operating Chee currently – the rest of them were concentrating solely on keeping the force field around our camp. But even so, some parts would flicker, and then the Spiders would attack, and we would fight.

It was actually after Alexa and I had our fight over food supplies that things began to change. Our fight was typical - we were hungry, all the time, all of us, and I wanted food for the soldiers to keep them alive, and she wanted more food for the children, who were going hungry. We agreed to look for more native plants, and slowly, I began to realize that this beautiful, pristine land wouldn't remain untouched by our hands.

But we were desperate. What else could we do? So we lived and fought and died and became Nadar, spending the first few weeks on our new planet marooned and in constant warfare.

**Review Responses**

Hi. It's been a while. This chapter isn't up to quality as the others, but I took about a three month break after writing half of it, so it's not exactly coherent. Sorry about taking so long with it – I got into college so I will now be getting back to more writing. However, I'm a little unhappy with how this is going. I feel I'm not writing out correctly the big picture. I want to get more personal with the Nadar council, but the way things are going I can't figure out a way to get that. I'll work with it, anyway; I need to make a new outline since my old one is really really out of date.

But anyway, thank DH for this chapter – she really encouraged me to get this up!

And oh, yes, I will only be using this section for review responses if you reviewed anonymously, i.e. you didn't sign in. All the rest will be responded to personally via the new system fanfic set up. Thanks again!

**DH – **Yes, yes, I know exactly what you mean! This review actually got me to start the War Council, but even with that I'm still not happy with how the characters are coming across. I had to create a new outline in order to bring it up to date since it was way out of date, and I'm feeling a little better about the control over the characters. Not this chapter, but hopefully the other chapters will be better.

Yeah, and more should be coming with the Vampire Spiders. Jeremy is mostly written by me, but Wraithlord specializes him, giving him specific sayings, making him more British, etc. I like him too. :grins:

And I'm really really sorry about not updating sooner – but as I said, it was your review that helped! And now that I got into college, I should be updating more frequently now. Thanks so much for it!

**Birdie – **Yeah, right now it looks like all the Vampire Spiders killed the slaves. And glad you liked them! Sorry it's been such a long time… but I'm back!


	6. Negotiating with Yomanti

Chapter 6: Negotiating with Yomanti

_From: Amadi (president at chee dot net)_

_To: Maya (princess at chee dot net)_

_Re: We're not alone._

_Time: 2046 03/15/01_

_Princess,_

_There was something I should have told you when we first met, but it slipped my mind and I think you will forgive me because since we met we have been constantly attacked without any sign of a letup._

_You know the juice that we process from the fruit trees around here? The drink that makes everyone giddy? The Vampire Spiders called it "hated drink of the Somolanians," which we shortened to Somo juice. I guessed that there were natives on this planet called Somolonanians, but they're very elusive if they do exist because we've never seen them. The spiders did go off sometimes and return wounded, and with fewer numbers, but we never saw who they fought and for all we knew they could have been holding gladiator like battles with themselves._

_I never thought to tell you this, mostly because I didn't think it important, but recently one of the food gatherers, I think it was Miguel, returned from beyond the force field with a strange story about two large bluish nyashas gamboling about in the plains. That is, at first Miguel thought it was two creatures, when suddenly he realized it was just one being, with two heads. He didn't really know what to make of it, and wasn't sure whether or not it was dangerous, so he just stayed where he was and watched as it walked off._

_I think Miguel might have inadvertently discovered our natives here. Why they haven't approached us is anyone's guess. Perhaps they do not like confrontations, perhaps they are frightened of the new creatures that came from the stars and have been warring with the spiders – I don't know. But I thought you might like to know._

_And just as a note, I don't think it's quite right to put this day on the calendar as the first day of our new democracy. Everyone knows that this is a military dictatorship, and while I'm flattered that I was voted in as the first president of our little community, all real power comes from you. Don't deny it – I want you to embrace it, because you have been doing an excellent job. Now, I leave the matter to you as to what should be done about Miguel's discovery. If you would like to take some advice from an old African woman who has seen much and endured much, I have just one thing to say: we cannot have enough friends in this new world._

_Amadi_

"Princess, Princess!"

I shot awake, my hand reaching for my gun even before I stood up. What was wrong? Another attack? The Chee had been running low on energy lately since they had been spending all their time keeping up the force fields that served as the walls of our village named Rachel. If even one of them failed completely, we would be doomed.

Taylor stood over me, a ladle of water in her right hand, and a handful of rice in the other. "Have this, Princess, before you go out."

I glanced at her, her worried face now a common sight since I had put her in charge of the food supplies. There was never enough to eat nowadays, although Taylor had done a good job, instantly rising to the occasion. She also probably did not want to see me and Alexa fight again over who should have the food – the soldiers or the children. The last time Alexa and I had argued I had shot her arm off when she told me that I cared more about killing the spiders than about keeping everyone alive, and she had continued yelling at me while regenerating her limb at an incredibly fast pace.

Nobody wanted that to happen again.

I took the handful of rice proffered and jammed it into my mouth at once, as Taylor continued fussing about me. Irritated, I tried to pull away, but she handed the ladle to me and then loosened my braid, running her fingers through my dirty and tangled here.

"What are you doing?" I half asked, half snapped. "Am I seeing someone today that I have to impress, or something? Nobody in the camp will care that my hair isn't brushed."

Taylor ignored me, instead saying, "You know, Princess, I wish you would bathe once in a while. It wouldn't kill you."

I rolled my eyes and drank the water, allowing myself to finish suffering the indignities that she forced on me. With my hair tightly braided once more, I sat down on the dirt floor and asked her, "So, _Mom, _am I getting interviewed for a job or something? What's going on? I mean, you're usually in my face about taking care of myself, but never as much as this."

She grinned like a teenage girl, and I almost allowed an expression of confusion to come into my eyes. Taylor rarely smiled, if at all. And if she did smile, it certainly wasn't like _that._

"Someone _is_ here to see you, in fact," Taylor said quietly, the smile gone from her face when she started speaking. I looked up, startled. "One of the natives of this planet, a Somolonanian, has requested an audience with 'your Old Mother.' We weren't sure who she meant by that, but when she said, she's the one you all follow, we knew she meant you."

I stood then, and said, "How does she know who I am?"

Taylor shrugged and responded, "I think they've been watching us fight the spiders, and have finally decided that we aren't evil beings who ought to be left in peace to be destroyed by the spiders."

I blinked at that. "Did the Somolonanian representative say that?"

Taylor nodded. "Not in so many words, but she's pretty pessimistic about any victory over the spiders. She told me that 'your People and my People can die in honor together,' when she first greeted me. Also," she added, "I don't think she's a representative. She spoke with authority, and so if she's not their Old Mother, then she's someone high up."

Stifling a yawn, I squared my shoulders and then nodded. "Okay, thanks for letting me know. I better go out then, and meet this Old Mother, or whoever she is."

Taylor placed a slender hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, and for a moment I was reminded of Helen, how she had said goodbye to each of her children in the morning before they left for school. How she had hugged me and waved to me before I got on the school bus every morning.

And then the moment passed, and I walked out of the tent into the soft darkness of the pre-dawn.

I always loved this time of day better than any other. The sun just barely starting to rise, the stars still shining firmly in place, the lake that nourished and washed us, glimmering with the fading light of the only one of the eight moons that was large enough to give us light at night. It was where night and day met each other and then said goodbye, wistfully, but firmly all the same.

"Princess," I heard, and turned to see Tom running towards me. He started to tell me about the arrival of the Somolonanian, but stopped when I told him I already knew. Falling into step beside, me, he asked, "Do you think they're dangerous?"

I shrugged. "According to Taylor, who met their Old Mother or whatever, they want to make an alliance with us. Or they want to die with us when the spiders overpower us, whichever one."

Tom made a face, and I smiled at how easily he showed his irritation. He picked up on my smile, grinned, and said, "Yeah, whatever, someone needs to have feelings around here. I tried to talk Keav into having them, but she wouldn't listen to me."

He suddenly fell silent, and I turned to him, and read guilt from his troubled gaze once more. I touched his shoulder and said, "Hey, don't beat yourself up."

Tom only sighed, and said, "It's nothing less than I deserve," before saluting and taking off in the opposite direction. He was probably going in either for tactician lessons from Solethi, or shooting lessons from Jeremy, or both. He had been planning on learning how to fly from Keav, but when our ships were sabotaged our first night on the planet, that dream had been shunted aside. It drove Keav, crazy, we all knew, that she hadn't flown anything for the past three months.

It didn't make me any happier that we didn't have any working ships. It had effectively trapped us into this endless lifestyle of war, without time to concentrate on anything but survival. But now maybe, with the Somolonanians…

I rounded the bend of tents, and there in front of the lake, was the Old Mother.

She was slightly elephantine in nature, although without the long nose. One of her heads was low to the ground, and it was grazing on the grass, eating as Earth creatures do. Her other head, which was facing away from me, was lifted up, up, up, on a very broad neck that was long enough to allow the head on top of it to reach the top of most of the trees here on… well, the planet Somolonania, I guess it was called.

She was the weirdest creature I had ever seen. Half elephant, half bulky giraffe, blue like an Andalite and two heads?

Suddenly, the creature turned around with speed that I hadn't thought possible with her hulking body, and she gazed at me.

"Old Mother," said the bloated giraffe head, which I later learned was considered the primary head. "This I need to know. Where are your fathers? I cannot speak with you about matters of importance unless I see how you maintain control over your tribe."

At least, that's what my translating chip said to me. It caught almost everything she said, and I grinned inwardly, very happy with the work Jenny had done on all our translating chips, increasing the efficiency by over 200.

But then the full impact of her words hit me. Fathers? Multiple fathers? My tribe? Oh, boy… this Old Mother probably had never dealt with any cultures outside of her own, and she was going to start with the assumption that we were operated exactly like her species did. Which usually led to war when someone inadvertently did something taboo.

Okay, Maya. Think fast. Talk in words that she will understand. Fathers… well, she was obviously the leader of her tribe if she thought that I, as another Old Mother, should maintain control of _my_ tribe, then the fathers must be people I rule over, but special enough to receive recognition…

(I will summon them,) I answered, and then sent out a public thought-speech call to my War Council, telling them to come to the edge of the lake instantly. I added in private speech, (The Old Mother here wants me to see how I maintain control over my tribe.)

(What?) I heard Jeremy ask in surprise, using his newly implanted thought-speech chip. (Just come,) I answered, and then turned my attention back to the Old Mother. She seemed unperturbed by thought-speech, and I realized that whoever had greeted her outside the perimeters and invited her in must have spoken to her in thought-speech as well.

In a few seconds, everyone from the War Council was there. Alexa, Keav, Jeremy, Tom, Solethi and Xel stood around me, the seven of us like resurrected Animorphs.

I shook the thought out of my head, and then turned to the Old Mother. (Here are my fathers.)

To their credit, no one expressed any surprise at this revelation, although Tom did glance at me sideways.

Suddenly, a booming noise came from the lower head, the second head, and the head who had been speaking to me spoke loudly through the noise. "You have very little discipline over your fathers! How do you expect me to speak to you when you cannot control your tribe?"

Think fast, Maya. Apologize or bluster your way through?

(I apologize, Old Mother, for the lack of control that I have over my fathers. The attacks of the spiders has worn me out, and I was unable to keep as tight control as usual.)

The booming noise got even louder, and the Old Mother said peevishly, "As usual? You are very arrogant. I _know _that I, in my pathetic weakness, do not have control over my tribe in the slightest bit, and yet you claim that you are usually able to keep your fathers in order?"

(My apologies once more, Old Mother. My fathers are completely out of control, and it is only by grace that we have managed to survive the attacks from the spiders.)

I was beginning to get a feeling that this insulting and pessimism wasn't a sign of anger, but a sign of culture. After all, she readily admitted that she had no control over her fathers, and now seemed mollified by my response. At least the booming noise had stopped. I tried not to look too relieved.

I hesitated, and then decided to risk taking my guess to the next step, and said, (We would welcome you to our disgusting home, but you dishonor us. How can you expect me to speak with one who so rudely orders another Old Mother about?)

Please let it work, I prayed to no one in particular.

I could feel my Nadar getting anxious – after all, I had blatantly insulted our only chance of an ally and our only chance at escaping from our current lives. (Just wait,) I said silently.

"I apologize," the Old Mother responded. "The sight of your ugly face offended me, and I thought surely you could not be a worthy Old Mother."

I almost wanted to laugh, but instead responded, (Indeed, I am not worthy in the slightest bit to be the Old Mother of my tribe. In fact, I am just as unworthy as you are.)

"Then, as one unworthy creature to another, we will speak," declared the Old Mother, and then stamped her four feet together on the ground, raising a cloud of dust. I instantly mimicked her with my two feet, morphing my two legs into elephant legs in order to get more dust. While the dust was settling, I demorphed them back.

(We will speak alone,) I responded, (And my unruly and lazy fathers will leave our presence.)

(Princess, wow. That was cool.) Tom's voice rang in my head as my War Council left.

(Princess, you dealt with the Old Mother very well,) came Solethi's praise, and I thanked him, and the others while keeping my face towards the Old Mother.

"I think," she said, "That you are not like us."

(I agree,) I responded, wondering whether the denigrating attitude she held was only used to begin negotiations, or whether it was a permanent condition.

"My useless and awkward name is Yomantiasogue," she told me. What was it and these creatures's obsession with ridiculously long names?

(And my equally useless and awkward name is War-Princess Maya,) I said, deciding that I might as well give her my title to make my name longer. Who knew, maybe the number of syllables in a name meant something.

"But you are an Old Mother!" she cried. "Your name should end with "asogue" to demonstrate to the world your position as Old Mother so they can scorn you for being a failure."

(Forgive me, Old Mother. As you said, we are different creatures with different customs. In our language, you place the "asogue" in front of the name, and it is pronounced as War-Princess.) I spoke carefully, hoping to plant the seed that would perhaps allow the Somolonanians to not take offense if one of us did something wrong. (My name is Mayasogue.)

This is going to take forever, I thought, if we have to stop every other sentence so I can soothe her prickly nerves and assure her that I didn't mean to give offense.

"I greet you, Mayasogue, oh unworthy Old Mother of the tribe from the stars."

She stopped, obviously expecting me to say something. Oh, great, what should I say? Something about how I'm unworthy, about how I suck… well, she just called me by a title, maybe I should refute that title.

(Call me Maya,) I offered. (I am a horrible Old Mother and deserve no title.)

Instantly she responded. "And I am Yomanti, for I too deserve no title."

(Yomanti,) I said. (This I need to know.) Oh, yeah, I was definitely getting the rhythm of her talk. (You told one of… my tribe members that you would die in honor with us. You are vile, and untrustworthy beings. How do I know that you will not break your word, as you surely will?)

This was actually really important to me, and I hoped that she would answer the question in a way that I could tell whether she was actually worth allying with. Who knew, maybe tomorrow she would decide I was unworthy, and would attack us with the spiders.

Yomanti closed her two eyes and said, "I have a story to tell you, Maya, and then you will see what truly despicable creatures we are. I will tell you about our horrible history, about our loathsome lifestyle, about our faint-hearted fighting methods, about our regularly shameful reproduction system, about our cowardly customs…"

I blinked. Was she really going to tell me all this? Or was it just part of being a Somolonanian, to list all of the ways they were horrible? Or was she just incredibly naive, to tell me all this without even knowing that I might be her most terrible enemy?

The Old Mother finished her list, and then opened her eyes. "I will tell you all of this because I realize that you are very different from us, very different indeed. I think even when you use the term 'father' you mean something different than when I mean father. But I have seen you in my visions with the other Old Mothers, and I will tell you all this knowing that you will be a not as despicable friend to the Somolonanians."

How do I show pleasure? How did she show a happy feeling? So far everything she had shown seemed to be anger or despair, which yes, I realized, was probably part of the culture, but she had just given me a very high compliment by not directly insulting me and by implying that I might not be all that bad. How did I show my gratitude? And what did she mean by visions? And other Old Mothers? Were there more tribes? I hope she's very thorough with her explanation…

Not knowing what to do I simply said, (Your ugly voice seems to my ears to perhaps not be so disgusting as well, with the words you choose.)

Yomanti's second head roared at this, and I thought, oh, so that's how you express delight. Booming equals angry, roaring equals happy. Except I don't have another head to do all this emotion showing with, so I guess I'll just have to use this one head of mine to do everything.

I roared back at her, letting my vocal cords swell as the sun pushed itself over the horizon. I roared with Yomanti, letting all my feelings of rage at the spiders and frustration with our situation out. I roared, and thought, we're going to make it, with Yomanti's help, we can beat off the spiders.

I roared with pure delight.

**Author's Note**

Aaaaaand KP is back! With another installment of the Nadar Chronicles 3 for your enjoyment. Many apologies for the long wait, but at least, I'm here now, and ready to write.


	7. Desperation

Disclaimer: The following email is about the Somolonanians and how they reproduce and live and I'm disclaiming it because although the vague ideas about how I wanted the Somos to work are mine, the true credit goes to Wraithlord42 for making them realistic and detailed and I definitely could not have done it without him. We talked about all this almost exactly a year ago through AIM and email, and now it's finally coming into play, so a big thank you to Jeremy!

Chapter 7: Desperation

_From: Tom (aristhtom at chee dot net)_

_To: Keav (aristhkeav at chee dot net)_

_Re: Weird stuff_

_Time: 0834 06/27/01_

_Keav,_

_Get this._

_You weren't there for our meeting on what the Somolonanians are like (where _were _you, by the way?) so I'm filling you in here. These nyashas are really weird creatures… even weirder than the Ssintha, which I hadn't thought possible. But then again, it's weird that I'm in freaking outer space!_

_Alright, so anyway, the Somos are tribal creatures, with one Old Mother to each of the thirteen tribes and there are thirteen fathers to each tribe. Nomadic people, don't seem to do much other than eat and walk around. They're very friendly with each other, apparently, and until the Spiders came the only deaths were from accidents which were rare because the Somos have been living on this planet forever and so were never surprised._

_So, in a tribe there is an Old Mother, the fathers, the youths and the children. But the craziest part of it all is this: each father has a youth and a child, their genetic path, and each one of these trios share one collective consciousness, one collective mind. _

_You know how when we morph, the technology pulls matter from Z-space and shapes it according to the DNA codes acquired by the morpher? Apparently the Somos use this to reproduce, only they don't have to use technology, it's innate. They have zero-space matter transfer ability (we're still not sure how) and they learned to store their memories and spare thoughts in Zero-space._

_However, this zero-space link is damaging to the bodies of the Somos, which is why they have to change bodies every so often. They have a ceremony and the Old Mother mates with each father individually, and then everyone (including the Old Mother, the youths, the children, _everyone) _morphs to the next stage. The fathers all revert back to children; the children morph to youths; the youths to fathers… you get the picture. Even the Old Mother goes back to being a child, the only female child in the whole tribe._

_By the way, we're still not quite sure what it is that the Old Mother does with the fathers that cause them to change their bodies, but we're just calling it mating since that's the closest Earthling equivalent. The Old Mother was pretty clear that that information was private information and that we were "the lowest of creatures to even think about thinking about trying to find out."_

_So anyway, essentially, the Somos are collective Zero-space-based consciousnesses with a series of bodies created in the "real world." The Z-space memory packets are tied into the particular mind of the Somo they belong to, and it's always the mind of a father or Old Mother. If the father dies, the line is wiped out because the youth and child can't morph to the next stage and so eventually their continual link to zero-space kills them and then the memory packets/consciousness remain in Z-space until the flooding._

_We don't know what this flooding is, and the Old Mother couldn't describe it. Flooding is actually the only word that the translation chip would agree to as a semi-appropriate translation, apparently there is some ancient Somolonanian word that has been used for generations and generations and it means something very specific that is related to flooding. The Old Mother looked very happy while mentioning the flooding, all this roaring as she talked about it, and switched to another language for it as well. It sounded kind of priestly, the chip caught, "and the sea will give up its dead" but other than that we really don't have any idea what she's talking about. Hopefully this little misunderstanding won't kill us all._

_It's kind of a harsh deal for these Somos, but apparently it's worked great for them all this time. Almost nobody died because they lived in perfect harmony with the planet (the reason why it was so untouched) because they don't ever overpopulate, they don't ever use up too many resources. It's like a perfect equilibrium. In fact, it's kind of funny that there aren't less of them; I mean, if one accident can wipe out an entire father's line…and if an Old Mother gets killed, the _entire _tribe is gone because they can't mate and keep going without the Old Mother._

_Sorry, I kind of delved pretty heavily into the biology side of the Somos, but I thought you'd be more interested in that than anything else. And just to let you know, we're not absolutely sure about any of this, we're just translating what they've said about "invisible memories who live among the stars" into terms we can understand. At any rate, like I said, my only conclusion is that the Somolonanians are really, really weird. Kind of cool, but still really weird._

_Tom_

It didn't get better after we allied with the Somolonanians, it got worse.

The Spiders doubled the intensity of their attacks, and the Chee began flickering more and more. I arranged for them to take shifts so they could take turns recharging, but that barely helped as it just gave each Chee a larger area to put a force field around.

"I've figured out our problem," Jeremy said suddenly at the beginning of one of our council gatherings. "We're acting like we're fighting a conventional war, give and take, but that's a totally loony way to look at it. You know what the deal is? We're _under siege._"

We all stared at him, struck by the thought. He was right, I mused. We hadn't been working with the mentality that we were in a virtual fort slowly being starved to death…

"If I had my ship," Keav said flatly, "I could destroy them easily."

Sighing, I started to say something when Tom interrupted. "Hey, maybe I'm just out of the loop, but why haven't we found the person who smashed our ships yet? I mean, what, it's been six months."

"Because," Jeremy answered acidly, "Nothing has happened since then. The person could be dead for all we know, and probably is."

"Well, you know," Alexa started, "We've been so buy trying to fight these Spiders, and it's obviously not working. Why don't we try another track and try to talk with them? I don't think we've ever attempted to negot - "

Alexa was cut off by loud cries of protest, Jeremy's voice rising above the rest. "If you haven't noticed, they've been trying to _kill _us for half a year. You'd think that if they wanted to talk, they would have done that by now."

Xel shrugged, and I was reminded of Aximili, the almost awkward way he had moved his shoulders. (They may not think we're capable of negotiations, you know.)

"No, they know we _can _talk, though," I responded. "The former slaves speak their language."

(So, there are two options then,) broke in Solethi. (Either these Vampire Spiders think of us in the way Yeerks think of their hosts. Or they realize we are equally sentient, and think there is no way we can coexist for whatever reason. Either way, the only solution is to fight!) He ended impatiently, the first time I had ever seen Solethi break out of his military shell.

I glanced at him as Keav began speaking, disagreeing with Solethi's first comment. "Not all Yeerks think of their hosts as animals to be butchered."

Jeremy nodded in agreement. "Mine didn't."

"My Yeerk has an idea," Keav continued. I actually turned to look at her.

"You mean you've been a Controller this entire time and you never bothered to tell us?"

My voice was tight, but Keav didn't seem to notice, and said, "It's not like it matters, she doesn't really care what we do. But - "

Her mouth stopped, and she was silent for a moment, and then Keav spoke again but it wasn't Keav.

"It is near my time to mate," Keav said, and I couldn't help but blink at such uncharacteristic words coming from Keav's mouth. "I will go to the other Yeerks in this community and we will mate and produce more Yeerks. You can train our offspring to infest the Vampire Spiders."

"No," Tom said instantly, breathing hard. "Never. If we begin infesting people, I'm leaving."

"Leaving for where?" Jeremy snorted quietly.

"People?" I murmured. "Look, the Spiders drank and fed on humans – we're talking about survival here," but Tom kept shaking his head.

Keav's body turned to Tom. "I suppose you hate me?"

Tom hesitated, and said darkly, "My Yeerk had me infest my parents with my own hands."

I laughed shortly. "You don't have to worry about your offspring being discriminated against," I said to the Yeerk. "Out of all of us here only Tom and Jeremy had bad experiences with infestation. Most of the People will grow up with nightmares about being eaten, not infested."

"Thank you, Princess," the Yeerk said politely enough. "I doubt though, that Somolonanian Yeerks will be anything like normal ones. With instant synthetic bodies, they will never hunger for a body in which they can see."

"Will we have enough metal to produce all these bodies though?" wondered Jeremy aloud. "I mean, we're kind of short on resources right now."

"We have enough scrap metal to make bodies, yes," answered Alexa. "We don't have the right kind to fix the ships though," she added instantly, obviously to forestall any questions about repairing the starships.

(So we're right back where we started,) Xel commented. (We're under siege, our Somolonanian allies can't seem to fight in any organized manner, just hit and run I think the Earthling expression is, and while that hurts the Spiders some, it also makes them angrier. It looks like our only ways out of this is to infest the Spiders or find some ways to fly above them and kill them why they can't kill us.)

I said, "The problem with infestation is that it can't happen until the Yeerks are mature enough, and it would only be a temporary solution even then. I don't want to have to deal with infesting nyashas whose instincts are just as hard to control as Taxxons."

"You know," Alexa began, "You guys probably would not have won the war if Cassie hadn't arranged - "

An explosion sounded and I mentally sighed. Would we be able to get through a full council meeting without being interrupted by an attack? Would we ever be able to do anything without it being stopped by an attack?

"Okay, everyone to your units." I said, as we got up. "Everyone get your lookout squads up in the air as birds." I paused, listening to a description of the attack from one of our scouts, and then continued. "Jeremy, I want you to take their left flank and _hit hard_. They've breached the force field that Louisa was in charge of, and she's out, completely drained."

I continued giving out orders, and then took to the air myself, diving and attacking, and maintaining a continuous stream of orders and suggestions as we fought for each inch of our camp.

(We can't get Lousia up,) Taylor told me from somewhere on the ground. I hurtled down and ripped into a Spider before swooping up and answering.

(Can Jenny take her place?) I asked shortly. The shields were vital for our survival… the Spiders breed like the maggots they are, they never stop coming at us, I thought grimly. Although our mortality rate had dropped drastically since we had all gotten the morphing power and had gotten better at fighting, there was still no way we could keep going on and on and on…

(Done,) Taylor said.

(Got it.)

I saw the blue tinted shield shoot up, trapping some of the Spiders on our side of the wall. Keav's unit was right with them.

(Crush them, Keav, don't let a single one go,) I ordered, and then let out a public thought-speech, (Everyone on the far side of the wall, get out of there. Run as far away as you can – you know the Spiders can't even keep up with a _human _running – and then morph to bird and get back.)

Jenny was the last Chee with full battery power. This was the third time the Spiders had attacked that day. The Somolonanians hadn't even joined us this time in attacking the Spiders. Thoughts swirled around in my head as I dove down to help Keav's unit finish off the last of the Spiders.

What was going on? Weren't we the Nadar? Wasn't this my indestructible army who was going to raze whatever planet I ordered them on?

I started demorphing, and for the first time since we had landed on this planet, I began to feel fear.

**Review Responses**

And another chapter for all of you all. Like I said before, I'm only answering unsigned reviews in this section from now on, since I can use the lovely review response option for the signed reviews. Hope you enjoy!

Birdie – Yup, I'm back! I'm very happy to be missed. :grins:

Hey – I hope this answers your question about the traitor!


	8. Appetite for Blood

Chapter 8: Appetite for Blood

_From: Keav (aristhkeav at chee dot net)_

_To: Tom (aristhtom at cheep dot net)_

_Re: It's nice of you to think of me but…_

_Time: 2345 06/27/01_

_I don't really care._

_---_

_From: Tom (aristhtom at chee dot net)_

_To: Keav (aristhkeav at cheep dot net)_

_Re: What is your problem?_

_Time: 2346 06/27/01_

_Look, I'm trying to be a decent person here. Draw you into things. You seem so set on making yourself as isolated as possible – do you even talk to anyone other than Jeremy and Maya? Yeah, I know you know Jeremy from the Blade Ship, and Maya is your Princess, but do you have to have an excuse to get to know somebody?_

_----_

_From: Keav (aristhkeav at chee dot net)_

_To: Tom (aristhtom at cheep dot net)_

_Re: How sweet of you._

_Time: 2347 06/27/01_

_Tom, I'm going to die anyway. We're all going to die. What does it matter?_

The first thing I heard after demorphing was furious argument. Setting my jaw, I headed toward the sound to find Alexa and Jeremy standing face to face, yelling at each other.

Something in me snapped and I thrust myself between the two, shouting, "Can you two shut up?"

Neither of them paid attention.

"You idiot, do you think they'll remember or be grateful when they're about to eat you?" Jeremy spat at Alexa, his face livid.

"He was in pain, what else was I supposed to do?" Alexa snapped back, her eyes flashing.

"Put him out of his misery, like I did," Jeremy retorted, and I stared at Alexa.

"You were ministering to a Vampire Spider?" I questioned, my voice cold.

Undaunted, she glared right back at me and yelled, "You stupid creatures of war! Do you really not understand that you are all going to die here, that you are no match for the Spiders? They are desperate, just as desperate as we are, but they have more members and more endurance than we will ever have. I cannot _believe _how idiotic you are to not realize that we _must _make peace to survive."

Someone from the crowd that had gathered around us hissed. "The Spiders aren't interested in peace with us. Do you think we grew up cowering from them as their slaves to become their friends?"

"It's that, or die," Alexa retorted. She glared at each of us. "Look at you. You're gaunt. You're exhausted. The Spiders aren't dumb. They're trying to wear you down so when they finally win you'll come to desire ordered, limited violence over random and fear-inspiring attacks."

"Never," another voice said. "Go back to being a body to breed? I'd rather die in an attack."

(Princess,) someone shouted, and the crowd parted to reveal Xel. (They've taken the children!)

My mind reeled. "_All _of them?"

(No, around thirty.)

Alexa lay a hand on my arm. "This mission is for the Biolex." Turning, she spoke. "Most of you are close to the end of your time. This is your last mission."

Close to the end of your time… most of the Biolex, Alexa had told us, were indestructible up to a certain time, after which they would die. We had depended heavily on these Biolex for rescue missions but now…

Everything around me was falling apart.

Suddenly, Taylor was at my side. "Princess, you need rest. You've been on your feet constantly for…"

"Ever since the Somolonanians came," I finished. "You know, sometimes I dream that the Somos are in league with the Spiders? Or that they knew the Spiders would become even more ferocious after our alliance?"

(Princess,) Xel said again, and I turned to him, trying not to enter a dazed state. (There's something else. Solethi – he…)

No. Please.

(He… went crazy. I've never seen him that way, he always exerted the greatest control over himself. But when you called for all of us on the other side of the wall to come back, he refused. Told me he was going hunting, that you couldn't whet his appetite for blood and then deny him his fare share.)

For the first time in a long while, I felt the flickers of a genuine smile coming to my lips. "Fire in his eyes, no? His face glowing, tail covered in blood…"

Xel looked at me uncertainly, and I reached out and touched his shoulder. "Solethi is a Nadar. 3rd generation He wasn't meant for these quick, constant defenses against attacks. None of us were. He's been itching to take the initiative for a while, hasn't he?"

After a moment, I added, "Maybe that's what we need to be doing. Go out and find them instead of waiting to be attacked."

Tom laughed grimly. "I just don't think it occurred to any of us – the Spiders weren't exactly giving us much breathing room."

"Maya?"

I turned to Alexa.

"We're ready to go."

I nodded, and then watched as twenty odd humanoid creatures lifted themselves out into the sky with their giant white wings. Our invincible rescue workers who were all doomed to die in just a short while, except for one, who was doomed to live forever.

"You're going to let her get away with it?" Jeremy asked as he watched the Biolex fly away by my side. "I couldn't believe it; she was bandaging up the Spider's wounds while we fought around her."

I thought for a moment, and then said, "Honestly, Jeremy, there's no one who can really control Alexa. What would I do? Forbid her? It would be like forbidding her to breathe."

Jeremy glanced sideways at me, and shrugged. "So, I heard that we might be going out after these Spiders instead of waiting in this rat trap," he offered conversationally. "We're such bloody geniuses; I wonder why an army of _Nadar _didn't think of this before."

My mouth twitched, but Xel responded seriously. (More of us will die. Defensive methods have cut down on loss of life by an incredible amount.)

"We all know that," Keav's voice said from a distance, and I saw her coming in with a Yeerk in a mechanical body by her side. "But if we keep this up we're all going to die, and better a few die so we can all stay alive."

I nodded, and realized with a sudden sharp feeling of excitement - I'm gonna get to hunt again.

Our allies weren't fighting with us, our enemies were fiercer than ever, our defenses were about to break down completely, our children kidnapped and most of our rescue mission workers about to die all at once.

But we were Nadar. That was one thing that no one could ever take from us. We were deadly, full of hate and more tenacious than anyone could ever know.

We were Nadar, and from now on we were going to fight like it.

---

I stood on my powerful Komodo dragon claws and thought to Keav, (How far?)

She answered from her vantage point in the sky. (Three more seconds, then you're on them.)

Beside me were Jeremy, Solethi, Xel, Tom, and Taylor, all of us ready for battle. I could barely hear them even with my heightened senses, but my body picked up on the sudden tension that was among us, the building up of pressure before the dam breaks. Three… two… one…

Snarling, Taylor shot out among us as the dark panther, and ripped into the nearest Spider. Solethi was next to her, his tail swinging so quickly that all you could see was a silver blur. I could barely see a white polar bear up ahead surrounded by Spiders, and then I snapped something in two in my jaws and went into the fray.

Our objective: To obliterate a nest the Spiders had been working from. It was the closest nest to our camp, and so I had ordered three newly formed aniarmies of seven each to the nest to get rid of it.

The twenty-one of us caught the Spiders completely by surprise, and I couldn't help but feel thrilled at the way things were going. It had only been this afternoon that I had been working at keeping fear consume me, and now I was fine, back to where a Nadar should be.

I continued clawing, and biting, until Keav said, (Okay, we've pretty much cleared the place of Spiders, the ones you are fighting now are the last ones left. The nest just needs to be filled in so they can't use it anymore.)

We obligingly hunted and killed the last of the Spiders, and then I ordered everyone who wasn't already in morph to morph to something that would be efficient in filling up a hole, when Keav said sharply, (Princess, there are a herd of Somolonanians coming your way. A tribe, actually, with Yomanti at the head.)

I barked out instructions to the twenty Nadar with me, and then turned to face this Old Mother who I hadn't been able to talk to since our first meeting almost three months ago.

When she arrived, I said nothing, testing her.

"Maya, I have expelled the offending father who was causing dissent. Now his line will be no more until the next flooding. We are willing to offer our poor services to assist you in your even poorer execution of this war."

I sent a thought probe to Tom, who had become our expert on Somolonanians since the last meeting – he had been to visit the tribes several times with Xel, learning all he could about them.

Tom seemed shocked. (Princess, the Old Mother is saying that she just sent a father out of the tribe, which is the highest punishment possible among these creatures. It means she's not going to mate with him the next season – that he and his children will die when the Z-space link kills them. She did it because he was causing dissent… because a father was urging the others not to fight with you, I think. So Yomanti expelled him and now she is ready to fight with you.)

(She really _doesn't_ have that much control over her fathers if one father could cause that much trouble,) I commented, and then turned to the Old Mother. Did we really need her help? Would she just cause more trouble than she was worth, with her strange culture? I was tempted to just inform her, no thank you, we're fine, when Amadi's words came to me. _We cannot have enough friends in this new world._

(I accept your offer, even though it is beneath my dignity. I am your lousy servant,) I said, making the words up quickly. I didn't want to sit here and trade insults with Yomanti for another hour with the Spiders probably furious at our surprise attack.

"What would you have us lazy and timid creatures do?" asked the Old Mother, and I looked over them through my Komodo dragon eyes. Yes, they were big, and those jaws could carry dirt…

(Fill this nest in,) I ordered, and then said, (I'll send someone to be in contact with you at all times so we can move quickly to attack the Spiders again.)

I could almost feel the Old Mother blink, and so I assumed that she was giving off some sense of surprise by the way she was angling her head. "Already? Already you want us to do this menial task for those lower than dirt?"

(Yes,) I responded shortly. Please let her get on with the demeaning remarks, please let her understand that I don't do that kind of stuff, that it just wastes time, I prayed to no one in particular.

"I think I understand, although my poor mind is very confused," the Old Mother said slowly. "You do not mean to be snappish, arrogant creatures. You simply speak that way."

(Yes,) I answered, almost crowing with delight. One up for interspecies relations! (To us, you speak insultingly and with harsh and cruel words. But I also understand that you simply speak that way.)

"It will be difficult, very difficult to learn to speak like the brutes you are," the Old Mother responded thoughtfully. "But my slow mind now sees that you also found it difficult to speak the way of the Somolonanians."

(Yes,) I responded. (So, now, could we please get on with it? The Spiders are coming back any moment now and I want to be able to re-group. Please fill this nest and then get out of the way while we fight.)

I was about to invite them to join us to fight, when Xel's voice rang in my head. (Princess, I think that you are going to ask them to fight, and this would not be a good idea. Tom and I understand now why the Somolonanians are so unwilling to fight – if one member of the tribe dies, then that member's line is wiped out. There is too much at risk for these Somolonanians to willfully do battle as we do.)

I thanked him, and then ordered one of the aniarmies to stay behind to guard the Somolonanians as they slowly began burying the nest. The other two armies would come with me, to mop up the hunt.

**Author's Note**

Apologies to everyone for my last bad chapter, I'm still getting used to going back and writing again. This chapter is speedier, and I promise the next ones will have more Maya excitement!


	9. Paying the Price

Chapter 9: Paying the Price

_The world but seems to be  
yet is nothing more_

_than a line drawn  
between light and shadow._

_Decipher the message  
of this dream-script_

_and learn to distinguish time  
from Eternity._

_Fakhruddin Iraqi_

The rain brushed past my face, not hitting me and sliding down in drops like the rain on Earth, but like a fan splattering mist, a light, dancing mist that chose to honor me with a dance for a few moments before moving on.

I kept my eyes closed, feeling the rain sweep by me, face upturned to the darkened sky.

I heard footsteps come up behind me, but I did not turn.

I knew who it was already, from his heavy breathing, and confident steps that most Nadar around me hid. We all walked softly, ready to spring into action instantly.

"Princess."

"Aristh," I responded, and turned to face him, the skittering rain running past me as I did.

Tom stood, his strong body illuminated by the moon Lupita. I looked up into his face, and read the concern in his eyes.

Concern for me.

"We won," I whispered, and was struck by the irony of those two words. We won.

"_This could be the beginning of the end," I told the gathered Nadar. "They haven't had any blood for ages, and they need it not only to drink, but also to reproduce. Several Nadar have morphed these Spiders and stayed among them as spies, and they have reported that there is infighting between the superior race and the lower race, which never had been a problem before when they had humans to feed off of. All or most members of the inferior race are going to be gathered in an area, that the Somolonanians know well and will guide us to, to discuss whether or not to leave the superior group."_

_The light from the moon was on my face as I spoke, and I knew it gave me a feverish look. A feverish, eager look. "We will go there, and kill them all. They've never been clustered so closely together before and we will be able to surround them. The inferior race is weaker in body and slower and less able to fight than the superior race, so we will have an easy time of it. We will also be using fire to get rid of the bodies so none of the Spiders can use the blood."_

"_Any questions?" I finished, ready to dig into organizing the aniarmies._

"_Yeah," a girl called out from the front of the crowd. "I mean, it's good to be killing Spiders and all, but how does it mark the beginning of the end?"_

_Xel answered her, and they gave him the respect that his knowledge of the Spiders had earned him. (When only the superior race is left, there will be even more infighting. They will become more panicked – they had always depended on having the inferior race for feeding and breeding. They will push their attacks on, but we will already have escalated the scale, attacking them first.)_

"_In short," I concluded, "We're near the end. If we can kill these inferior Spiders in one blow, it will be devastating to the Spiders. They've always been very careful not to group together, but the inferior Spiders are desperate and are willing to do anything. We're going to exploit that."_

_I waited for any more questions, and then when there were none, went on to take care of tactical details, organizing the armies, and working out positions. It wasn't until I was done did I notice Alexa, waiting to talk to me._

"_No," I said instantly, wary of any plan she might come up with. She rolled her eyes at me and said, "Yes, this is a good opportunity to exploit – why don't you make a non-aggression pact with the inferior race?"_

"_As if they'd keep it," I responded scornfully. Alexa through up her hands in frustration. "Maya, you know, someday this is going to kill you."_

_I grinned. "That's exactly what I want. Nothing could be more perfect than that."_

_She gave me a long glance, and then said, "Except you seem to escaping death every single time, while everyone connected to you dies by being dragged into wars that you either start or join with a vengeance."_

"_Only when I'm not with them," I shot back. "If I'm with them to defend them, they live too."_

"_Except the moment your back is turned, they all end up dying," Alexa finished wryly. She looked at me again and then said before walking away, "Anyway, Maya, think about it."_

_I didn't._

_Instead, I fought._

_The battle went perfectly, the Spiders all dying in one swoop as all virtually all the aniarmies closed in. We had gone out in full force, leaving behind two aniarmies with the Chee to guard the Kyan. I shrieked with delight as I charged into the fray, first as a Komodo dragon, then partway through the battle switching to a deadly human with a shredder, and finally to a bird of prey, hurtling through the sky._

"_Princess!"_

_I curved a sharp left through the air and found myself face to face with one of the remaining Biolex. He looked like a five-year-old boy, with his soft, white wings keeping him above the fray. I couldn't help but notice the juxtaposition of this angelic figure above the death underneath us._

_(What is it?)_

"_The Spiders…" he started. "They're at Rachel. They're taking everyone they can. Alexa sent me to find you."_

_For a moment I was stunned, shocked, and then I composed myself and blared an order. (RETREAT! BACK TO RACHEL! THE SPIDERS ARE IN RACHEL!)_

_My proud aniarmies obeyed instantly, and we flew, ran and stampeded our way back to our beloved village where we were met with the sight of Alexa holding off over two dozen Vampire Spiders from the air, her white wings flashing under the moon as she shot deadly beams at the Spiders._

_(I didn't know she could fight,) I heard Jeremy say briefly before we all plunged into the fray._

_We spent that night hunting down every person the Spiders took, and the next night doing the same. For a whole week we did nothing but have either Alexa or Sam, the boy Biolex, scout out where any humans were, and then rescuing them._

_We made sure we found every single person, dead or alive. We couldn't afford to let the Spiders keep any bodies, knowing that they would use the blood they had to reproduce and send more Spiders at us._

_One week after that fateful battle, Keav marched into my tent and said, "We've recovered everyone, Princess. And the Somolonanians tell us that we've decimated the inferior race – we pulled out leaving only a few alive, and the Somolonanians tamed the fire that your ordered the one aniarmy to set. And those few won't stay very alive without blood that they don't have."_

"_We won," she added. "Everything is happening exactly as you said it would. We won."_

_I looked at her, and then pushed outside of my tent, and was hit with an overpowering sense of grief that pervaded through Rachel. I went from cluster to cluster, listening to tearful stories about my best friend, the one mate of mine who I got to know, the child I had in freedom…_

"_He's dead!" the woman shouted. "Oh, my baby boy, my son, oh, look, the Spiders took him and he's dead! I was pregnant with him when we were freed, oh, my baby boy, he was born in freedom and they took him from me!"_

_I glanced at a woman holding the corpse of a child under the age of one to her heart, and suddenly the faces of my dead children spun before me and I felt a flash of anger. How _dare _this woman weep over the death of her child? Didn't she know that war had a price? That I had paid an enormously high price in blood to stand where I stood now?_

_I stood there for a moment, struggling with the desire to snatch the dead child from her arms and spit on him, and then turned around and left. I needed to be alone, away from these people who were free to grieve and let the misty rain hide me from all my sins._

"We won," I said again, and this time an overwhelming sense of loss came over me.

And was the price worth it?

"The price was worth it, Princess," Tom told me, reading the question in my face.

I smiled. "I have to work on hiding my emotions from you, don't I."

Tom smiled in return, and he reached and touched my face with his fingers, tracing the outline of my jaw.

"Oh, Princess," he breathed, before letting his hand drop.

I said, nothing, but stood still, completely still, letting the rain cover Tom and me both, hiding us from the others, from each other, and from ourselves.

And then Tom stepped through the barrier, stepped close to me, and brought both hands up to cup my face so that I had to look in his eyes.

"Never doubt that it wasn't worth it," he told me.

I looked at him sadly, his eyes radiating emotion that only another Nadar could read.

"Tom, was it worth Jake, was it worth Rachel, was it worth Tobias, and was it worth losing whatever remnant of goodness in me, to win the war against the Yeerks?"

I could see that Tom had only heard the words, was it worth Jake.

"Jake isn't lost," he said, almost like a child. "Jake didn't pay."

I shook my head. "Jake paid the burden of guilt. Rachel paid with her life, Tobias paid with his love, Marco paid by losing his childhood friend, and Cassie paid by losing her unbloodied hands and I…"

My voice trailed off, but Tom answered for me. "You paid for the war with your children."

I smiled, my lips twisted in bitter irony, silently asking the question, and who paid the most?

And his eyes answered me, but I couldn't fathom the answer from them.

I turned, wearily, tired from the battle that would let us sleep in relative peace, at least until the next battle.

At the cost of so many lives, so many children, who died so that I could live.

And the worst part was that I didn't care anymore.

I returned to my tent, where Taylor was already sleeping, and crawled onto my sleeping pad.

Yes, I said, the price was worth it. It was worth it. It was worth it. It was worth it.

The mother who had lost her son, the mother I had scorned because I had lost all my children, she paid a price, that was worth it.

Maybe if I said it enough it would become true.

-----

I woke up, the sunlight streaming through the tent flap. Shoot, I was late!

I jumped out, only to realize that I wasn't in my sleeping pad, I wasn't in the tent, and Taylor wasn't there.

Where was I?

"Hello?" I called, and then stopped in shock.

My voice...

I raised my hand and touched my throat, and looked down at both my hand and my throat.

They weren't mine.

I opened my hand, and saw that it was the hand of a mature twenty-eight year old woman, not of a slim girl just eighteen-years-old.

What had happened?

I quelled my breathing, cutting off my panic, and looked around. I was in what looked like rafters, in an Earthling attic, but it was clean and bright, unlike the musty ones that I had encountered on Earth. I was kneeling on several slabs of wood that were stretched across two rafters – my bed?

A sound distracted me, and I began to make my way to it, carefully, desperately hoping for some answers when I realized I was wearing a dress.

Yes, a full dress, like one that peasants wore in the Middle Ages of Earthling Europe.

I stared at in horror, when the sound became louder, and I recognized it as the cry of someone in pain.

I quickened my steps, walking from rafter to rafter in booted feet, and then turned the corner to see a boy, about my age – no, the age I should have been – kneeling on two rafters, head in his hands, weeping.

He raised his head at the sound of my approach, and I saw a bright silver coin embedded in his forehead which was pulsing.

But what shocked me the most was the face that this boy had.

John.


	10. Maya’s Forbidden

Author's Note: To those confused about John: he shows up first in chapter five of The Princess.

Chapter 10: Maya's Forbidden

_I am all hollowed out now  
Like a reed.  
I gave everything for this.  
And still I laughingly wonder:  
How could it have been so cheap?_

_Adyashanti_

"John?" I whispered, still convinced that I was dreaming. "John? Is that you?" He had been a mischievous six-year-old the last time I had seen him, but I could definitely tell that the sixteen-year-old boy who knelt before me was John, the first Kyan.

He tilted his face up towards me, his eyes full of pain. "Princ…" John started, when the coin in his head began flashing, and he bent over again, tears falling from his eyes.

Tentatively, I reached up to my forehead and found what felt like the same coin in my forehead. It flashed hot under my fingers for a moment, and then turned cool again, but I felt nothing else.

Puzzled, I stepped over the rafters and reached out to help John to his feet, but he shied away from me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from getting hysterical. "John, what's wrong?"

He dropped his head and responded so softly that I could barely hear him. "I'm not supposed to be up here. But they're going to put me on trial, I know it, I know it, and I had to get away. But they know, they always know…"

John bent over again, hiding his face in his hands, and I stared at him, horrified. What was going on?

"What is this place?" I asked, my voice also a whisper. "Where are we?"

John looked up sharply, and then I noticed a hint of eager greed in his eyes as he said, "You don't know?"

His eyes captured mine – since when had John ever had that look in his face?

"Come on, then," he said suddenly. "I'll show you where you're supposed to go."

Numbly, I followed him from rafter to rafter, trying to keep my full skirt from getting caught on anything. John led me down a ladder, and as he stepped down it, I noticed that the coin had stopped flashing, and he was breathing more easily.

Still wary of that look on his face, I followed cautiously; hand over hand down the ladder rungs that led straight down into a bustling kitchen.

"You're late," a voice commented by my side, and I turned to face someone who smiled mockingly and spat, "_Princess._"

Surprised, I looked at her. What had I ever done to gain her hate?

Ok, stupid question, I had probably killed someone related to her at some point in my life. But still…

The woman was still smiling that smile at me, and I instinctively flashed a smile back. She grabbed me by my shoulders and I fought the instinct to take her apart as she bent down to touch our foreheads – the coins embedded in our foreheads – together.

"FB 12938," she stated after a moment, apparently getting the information from my coin. "You are late."

"You said that already," I snapped back at her, more than a little unnerved. "And what did you just call me?"

At that moment the main doors leading out of the kitchen opened wide and two humans stepped through, silver coins fitted on their foreheads as well. Was this some bizarre fashion trend? No, it had to be some sort of identification card as well.

At the site of them John began twisting away from them, pointing at me. "_I _found her – she was up in the rafters and she didn't know what she was doing. She wasn't obeying orders, she's late, and I'm the one who brought her back."

I didn't like his tone, but it stopped the two humans who were armed as if they were supposed to bring a resistant someone along. One of them looked at me quizzically, and for a second I thought I recognized his face, but couldn't match a name it to it. What had John done? I wondered. I looked at him, and saw the look of a man who has been condemned to death, and who just found out that he might still live.

The one I recognized made a quick, impatient motion. "Let's take her and go."

I found myself sandwiched between the two men as they marched me to out of the kitchen and through a number of hallways until we finally stood before a solid gate. I was too curious to fight them, but I was beginning to get a sense of what happened. I had probably been transported to the future through some sort of Sario Rip, although… if that were true, then I should have my own body, not this woman's body.

At any rate, I was definitely not in Somolonania.

I had to eat my words when I found myself outside, staring at what seemed like a familiar scene… what where was I? I felt like I needed to only blink and I would recognize where I was when suddenly I was being jerked across a drawbridge that was stretched over a moat of blue and gold water.

The lake… I stared at it as I crossed over it, the glistening blue and gold water seeming like an old friend. I glanced back at the gates and realized that they were the doors to a castle.

We stepped onto land, and then suddenly one of the men threw me to the ground, and startled, I fell heavily but was instantly on my feet. I winced, not liking how heavy I felt, and then turned to glare at the both of them when a Vampire Spider stepped into view.

I froze.

The Spider hissed at the two men, and they responded in the same language before bowing. I turned to look at the Spider. It was fatter than I had seen any of the Spiders in a long time, and I noticed how contented it looked.

"So, Maya, the famous Princess dies by common trial," the Spider hissed. A group of people started to gather around me, their eyes shining unnaturally. "Because she was _late_. I expected better of her, for some reason. Ten years and not a sound of protest, and then she is late."

I didn't like the sound of where this was going.

"But late she was, and furthermore, she was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. And for that, I find her guilty!"

And before I could blink, or protest, or demand an explanation, the Spider attacked me, jabbing me with his front foreleg. I stepped backwards, my hands on my leg to staunch the blood, and then threw myself to the side as the Spider attacked again. There was a low murmur from the crowd, and I glanced at them quickly – but there would be no help from them.

My head dimmed, and I realized too late that the Spider has poisoned me. My limbs began stiffening, and I desperately tried to move them when the Spider inserted its fangs into my arm.

Unimaginable pain.

I screamed, my jaws already closing up, and I jerked away but it only intensified the pain. I couldn't do anything with the poison dulling my reflexes and could only think, John, why? Do you hate me too? Does _everyone _hate me? What did I do?

I could feel the blood leaving my arm and I thought, so, this is what it felt like. This is what the slaves lived in constant fear of. The pain blossomed up my arm and touched every nerve of my body and I writhed in desperation. Torture with Tom was nothing compared to this, I thought, with gritted teeth as I tried to force open my eyes.

Morph. Morph.

It was unbelievable hard to concentrate with the pain consuming me, but my will to live was stronger, and I began the transition from Maya to Komodo dragon. I felt the Spider pull his fangs out of me (oh, sweet bliss) and I forced myself to finish the morph. It got easier and easier as I went along, as the poison slowly disappeared and then I stood, snarling, facing the Spider who looked at me with fear.

I dug my claws into it and ripped the Spider's body apart, snapping and biting with my teeth. I heard screams from around me, and I whipped my head around to see everyone in the crowd had fallen down onto the ground, weeping as their bright silver coins flashed.

I took one long glance at them, and then began running, away from the buildings, away from the dead Spider, away from the lake when I noticed the rotten cloth that was on every part of the ground around this lake. I sniffed at it, and recognized it immediately.

Our tents.

Fear shot into me, and I began running again, away from it all, away from the thought that had entered my mind.

This _was _the future.

And we had lost the war.

---

I ran blindly, and stumbled straight into the warm misty rain that was so typical of Somolonanina. I stopped for a moment, and then began demorphing, my mind spinning rapidly. I would morph to bird, and then, then… then what? Try and find a resistance group. Yes, that was it, there had to be a resistance group.

Screams and shouts attracted me, and I instantly became wary as I crept forward towards the sounds. I noticed just in time that my peasant's dress was still on me, although it was ripped and dirty from having to accommodate the Komodo dragon morph that I had chosen. I clung to it to keep it from falling off and sneaked further.

It was another trial. I cautiously joined the fringes of the crowd, and watched, as an old man this time, was told that he was being found guilty.

The man looked around frantically, and shouted, "No, no! I found someone sneaking word… word to the resistance! It's him you want, not me!"

So there was a resistance. Or the old man was lying to save himself, which was more likely, given the man's hesitation. I expected the Spider to either ignore the old man, or to turn on whoever he accused next.

But to my surprise, the crowd grew still, and the Spider paused, staring at the old man. Was it possible then, that the accusation was true?

I decided not to wait until the Spider reached a decision, and instead bowled my way through the crowd, morphing into my hand the knife that was still always there. I stabbed once, directly in the Spider's soft underbelly, in a strike that was sure to kill it, and then turned and grabbed the man with my arms and threw him over my shoulder.

The man began screaming and writhing, trying to get away from me and I glanced over my shoulder to see his silver coin flashing. Why wasn't mine working? I wondered. Not that I was complaining about not feeling pain every time the thing flashed.

I kept going, leaving the hysterical crowd behind me as the man on my shoulder whimpered. When we were far enough away to be lost in the mist, I threw him onto the ground, pleased now with my new strength.

"Tell me about the resistance," I ordered, but the old man wouldn't listen to me, and merely continued burying his face into his hands, moaning. Frustrated, I grabbed him and repeated as forcefully as I could, "Tell me about the resistance."

But he wouldn't. Every time he opened his mouth, the coin flashed, and I began to realize that this coin probably controlled the behavior, words – even thoughts? – of those that had one implanted through waves of pain. I reached up to touch mine for the second time today, and realized that it was flashing constantly as well, the heat of which I could feel.

But no pain.

I looked back at the man at my feet, and thought, who was he? Was he from Earth? If he were someone who had been in my army he should have the morphing power – so why didn't he morph and end his slavery?

I bent down and asked the question directly to him. "Why don't you morph?"

In response, he pointed at the silver coin.

I turned to leave him, but he grabbed me and clung to my ankle. Surprised, I turned to look at him.

"Don't leave me," he begged, gasping the words out. "When they find me, they'll put me on trial again. And again. And again. They'll drag it out, they never kill you the first time."

Desperately, he continued. "You don't know the pain. You just want it to end, and you'll do anything to stop it. You'd sell your first born, betray your own mother." His mouth twisted and he was on his knees again.

An unexpected flash of pity went through me, and so I reached out with a fist and knocked him on the side of his head. He collapsed into unconsciousness, and the coin stopped flashing.

My dress split and fell to the ground as I morphed to my dragon morph, the one I had used what seemed like a million years ago with Rachel. I had burned the school down, hadn't I? And almost killed both Rachel and myself in the process.

I clumsily pulled him into a filmy sac on my back, and then awkwardly lifted my wings and shot forward. I hadn't used this particular morph in a very long time, and could count on each hand when I _had _used it. I could remember when I had acquired it too, when I was an Elemaki slave girl traveling with the Andalite warriors as they went from planet to planet, collecting DNA for the government to distribute to its morphers.

Come to think of it, the planet this dragon was from was the same as the planet the Ssintha were from, wasn't it? I vaguely remembered Alexa telling me about how once the Ssintha became adults they sprouted wings, became dragons, and preyed on their young, leaving only about a dozen or so to survive to adulthood. A sort of barbaric population control – there were never over fifteen adult Ssintha at one time.

The Ssintha. I could search for them – it had been ten years, some of them would have to be adults by now.

I pushed my morph forward, and suddenly broke out of the mist into the clear sky. Wonderingly, I circled high above the ground as I took in the view. The land looked almost exactly the way it looked ten years ago, except it was dotted every so often with castles. The Spiders hadn't done much pollution, at the very least, although they didn't seem to have cared much about maintaining the wilderness. There were fields of crops, apparently for human consumption because I knew Spiders didn't eat human food. My dragon eyes could just make out human figures working at the fields.

A blurred shape flew at me and I dove swiftly, wishing that I had more experience with this morph. I spun around midair and looked around sharply, and then saw another dragon, another adult Ssintha, floating in the air about a hundred yards from me. The two of us treaded the air, neither of us moving as we sized each other up when suddenly thought-speak entered my head.

(I know that morph,) the voice said coolly. (Only Maya had that morph.)

Even through thought-speech, the voice, the intonation was unmistakable. I circled closer, and saw Jeremy, or what Jeremy should have looked like ten years later, astride the other Ssintha.


	11. Singing Dragons

Chapter 11: Singing Dragons

_Tonight is the night that all dragons  
Awake in their lairs underground,  
To sing in cacophonous chorus  
And fill the whole world with their sound.  
They sing of the days of their glory,  
They sing of their exploits of old,  
Of maidens and knights, and of fiery fights,  
And guarding vast caches of gold._

_Some of their voices are treble,  
And some of their voices are deep,  
But all of their voices are thunderous,  
And no one can get any sleep.  
I lie in my bed and I listen,  
Enchanted and filled with delight,  
To songs I can hear only one night a year -  
The dragons are singing tonight._

_Jack Pretlutsky_

"I didn't even know that these mountains existed," I whispered in awe, my hands touching the rock face. "Then again, we never really had much time for exploring."

Jeremy had brought me to the east of where Rachel had been, and we were now among a giant mountain range that soared into the sky. It was exhilarating, to be so close to the sun and space beyond it and not for the first time I felt a twinge of longing to be among the stars. I didn't even know why – the two times I had spent in space I had spent it in slavery.

But still, I wanted to be up there, free, with nothing but empty darkness around me.

"Keav found it before she died," Jeremy stated shortly. "You don't remember?"

I turned to look sharply at him. I thought I had convinced him that I didn't remember anything from the last ten years, but he was obviously still skeptical.

"How?" I managed to ask, sinking to the ground, adjusting the dirty blanket that was wrapped around me, over my morphing suit. Jeremy shrugged.

"It was a long time ago. Ten years."

I turned to look at him. "But that was when…"

I faltered, and he said, "When the Spiders won?"

"Tell me what happened, Jeremy."

He leaned against the wall, a hard look on his face. I noted that he had a silver coin on his forehead as well, but it was dull and didn't flash at all, unlike those that belonged to the humans working for the Spiders.

"It all started the one night we thought we had won the greatest victory of our lives," Jeremy began without bitterness. "The night that we managed to wipe out the inferior race of Spiders. You remember that woman whose baby was killed by the Spiders when they attacked Rachel, the woman who was screaming about it?"

I nodded. The woman I had scorned. I could still feel that bitterness towards her, and felt no shame for not trying to hide it from my face.

"She betrayed us," Jeremy said simply. "She saw your face and so went to the Spiders and blackmailed the Chee into letting them through. You know that she was the original traitor, the one who had smashed our ships?"

I breathed quickly, trying to control myself. My fault my fault my fault my fault

"Funny thing is she had smashed our ships originally just to keep us from leaving. She thought that if the going got tough, all the original Nadar would leave the former slaves behind, and she couldn't bear that thought, so she made it impossible for us to leave."

I still didn't trust myself to speak.

"She's dead now – killed herself after realizing what she had done. The woman was always a bit loony, to tell you the truth. Went mad during her slavery to the Spiders."

His utterly blank voice, completely devoid of the sarcasm and wit that I had grown to expect from him, made me lift my face.

"And Keav? How did she die?"

"Her age caught up to her." I looked at him, confused, when he continued. "You know she was actually thirty-seven when you first met? Her mental age, at least. Her Yeerk had managed to find a way to delay aging, and as an experiment used it on her. But he was only able to delay her aging for fifteen years before it caught up to her and killed her."

Jeremy paused, and then said, "Keav had a twenty-four year old body for fifteen years, and then in the space of a second she aged those fifteen years all at once. She died only a year after the Spiders won."

"And the others?" I asked, forcing the words from my mouth.

"Xel, Solethi and Tom are all slaves still, and Xel and Solethi were forced to become human nothlits. Alexa… well, I can take you to her."

I stood up instantly, shedding the blanket as I followed Jeremy out of the cave. A Ssintha was waiting there for us, and I got on behind Jeremy, holding tightly with my legs when the Ssintha suddenly took off.

She flew higher and higher, flying past the highest peak and I began to feel dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Jeremy seemed fine, though, and I wondered how much time he had spent in these high places. I forced myself to concentrate on breathing, and so didn't notice that we had stopped and that the Ssintha was treading air until Jeremy nudged me.

"Alexa is in there."

He pointed out into the distance at what looked like a sphere made of Ramonite, floating in midair. I cocked my head to one side, and then gasped aloud when it hit me.

"How long as she been in there?"

"Ten years," Jeremy responded. "They tried to kill her, and when they couldn't, they imprisoned her in one of the dungeons. Of course she escaped – she's indestructible, she broke her arm and removed the bone and used it to knock out the Spider who came to feed on her. Then they put her in there."

"And you can't get her out?"

"It's covered in Spider venom, equipped with motion detecting shedders and it's seamless. The barrier blocks any sound and thought speech waves," Jeremy reeled off with a practiced air. He's tried to get through, many times, I thought, and then the full impact of what was going on hit me. Ten years. She's been in there for ten years without any contact, unable to even die.

"The only thing that can be sensed through the barrier are vibrations," Jeremy said simply. "And they have to be very heavy."

I tore my eyes away from Alexa's prison and stared at Jeremy's head in front of me. "And how are these vibrations made?"

Instead of answering me, he urged the Ssintha downwards, and we spent the flight back in silence. Oh, Alexa, I'm sorry, you don't deserve this. You, least of all. It's too heavy of a punishment for being loyal to… me.

We landed quietly, and then Jeremy led me up the mountain side, his feet quickly picking out a path that took me a little longer to figure out, especially with the sun setting. I began shivering, my morphing suit the only thing I had on, when I stumbled over the ridge and found myself on the top of a vast, bowl shaped plateau. There were ridges and craters, making the bowl shape somewhat irregular, but it was a bowl nonetheless, large enough to contain the many, many Ssintha that were gathered in it.

Jeremy led me to the middle of the plateau, where there was a moderate sized group of humans. I noticed the old man who I had rescued, leaning against the rocks with his eyes closed, his silver coin no longer flashing.

"Why doesn't your coin flash and cause you pain?" I suddenly asked Jeremy, and he responded, "The coins were implanted by the Spiders to control what we thought about – if it was anything seditious, the coins cause your nerves to feel like they're on fire. When we escaped from the Spiders we were only able to do so because my Yeerk came and infested me, and took control of all my neurons except the ones that would cause him to share my pain."

Jeremy paused, and then continued. "Then he made me morph to get rid of the connection the coins have to our minds. It took several tries – I passed out from the pain more than once, but eventually, it worked. Now one of us morphs Yeerk to free any humans that manage to join us, because no one can morph on their own. Thinking about morphing causes undeniable pain."

Stunned, I looked at the old man. To feel pain automatically just for thinking something? No wonder there weren't more humans – they wouldn't even be able to think about escape while enslaved.

"Sit," Jeremy ordered, and my legs folded underneath me. He looked at me critically and said, "Don't worry, you'll be warm in just a few minutes."

He sat down cross legged next to me, and then closed his eyes as well. I copied him, and for a moment I was alone on the plateau, me and the darkness of space, when the dragons began singing.

It's impossible to describe. How can I capture with words the experience of clinging to the mountaintop, as the voices of the Ssintha rolled over me, as they sang louder and louder, the plateau vibrating under my body? I began weeping when words first emerged from the tune, words that spoke with bitter longing of the days of the Nadar, of the Biolex, of Princess Maya and freedom.

Princess Maya and freedom, they crooned over and over again. Never forget the days when we were free to fight, to live our own lives, to think our own thoughts. Never forget and never give up.

When the last echo of their song died away, I found that I wasn't the only one in tears. Jeremy next to me sobbed, his body bent over as he ground his fists into the rock. The other humans shed their tears as they moaned, and they whispered the words of the song of the dragons over and over again.

"One night a year, they sing," Jeremy said suddenly, his eyes wet with tears. "One night a year, Alexa knows that she is not forgotten."

It was too much to bear. I broke away from him, choking on my guilt, and began running towards the edge of the plateau when a Ssintha swooped down beside me.

"Princess," she said softly, and I shook my head. In what way was I a Princess? I had lost this war, completely by myself. They didn't need me here anymore, Jeremy had been running this new resistance for the last ten years.

"I know where Aristh Tom is," she continued, when I didn't say anything. "And Aristh Xelaman and Solethi. They work together in the fields of most powerful Spider lord of Somolonania."

At the name of the planet, I looked up at her, and blurted out, "What happened to the Somolonanians? Were they all killed too?'

She bowed her scaled head. "Yes."

Fury burned in me and I pulled myself up, staring up into the Ssintha's eyes. I looked over my shoulder at Jeremy who was standing up, giving orders to the humans there. He turned and beckoned me forward, and I told the Ssintha, "Wait here," and then came forward.

"We were planning a raid tonight," Jeremy told me when I arrived. I listened impassively. "It's what we do – swoop down on our dragons and snatch beautiful young women away and bring them to our lairs. But we learned from the human you brought in that the Spiders are about to launch their first space fleet tomorrow, and we have to stop them so we need to focus. With the development of the coins, they could take over the entire universe."

"And I figure in how?"

"Your coin still flashes, but you yourself don't feel any pain. I don't understand why, but it's enough that it doesn't because it means you can go in as a spy, and can signal to us when to come in to destroy the fleet."

"They'll build another one," I said, but Jeremy shook his head. "It took them ten years to get the resources to build this fleet, and they depleted the planet of its metal. They won't be able to build another one any time soon."

"When should I signal for you to come in?" I asked, my face still blank.

"When they are about to launch the fleet," he responded. "Chidiebere can show you where you need to go – the fields of the most powerful Spider lord of Somolonania."

Jeremy gestured at the female Ssintha who was still waiting for me, and I nodded. So, Chidiebere was her name. It sounded African, maybe Amadi had named…

No. No use in asking. She's probably dead as well.

I nodded, and then strode off to Chidiebere to practice flying with her in the case that we would meet some resistance on our way to what would probably be our doom.

Personally, I couldn't wait to meet it.

**Author's Note**

I've started a new forum here on who should end up being the lucky guy for Maya. If you could please visit it and give me your advice on who it should be, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

Also, I'm instating a new update policy from now on: updates once a week, every Friday. I will update sooner than every Friday occasionally, like if the chapter is very short, or if a new reviewer reads and reviews all my stories or something equally happy making. But for now, enjoy, and see you next week!


	12. The Sun Still Rises

Chapter 12: The Sun Still Rises

_You can  
die for it--  
an idea,  
or the world. People_

_have done so,  
brilliantly,  
letting  
their small bodies be bound_

_to the stake,  
creating  
an unforgettable  
fury of light. But_

_this morning,  
climbing the familiar hills  
in the familiar  
fabric of dawn, I thought_

_of China,  
and India  
and Europe, and I thought  
how the sun_

_blazes  
for everyone just  
so joyfully  
as it rises_

_under the lashes  
of my own eyes, and I thought  
I am so many!  
What is my name?_

_What is the name  
of the deep breath I would take  
over and over  
for all of us? Call it_

_whatever you want, it is  
happiness, it is another one  
of the ways to enter  
fire._

_Mary Oliver_

I tried not to retch as I carried the platter of human flesh and blood high above my head and instead forced myself to review the plan that Chidiebere and I had devised the evening before I sneaked into the palace of the Spider lord at midnight. I was here under the guise of a serving woman in order to eavesdrop on the plans for launching the ships. If that involved having to carry dead bodies around, so be it.

But it didn't mean I had to like it.

I could feel the alert transponder that Jeremy had given me through the folds of my dress, and I remembered the instructions that came along with it. I was to break it when the Spider lord gave the order to launch, and the Ssintha would come flying through in order to cause maximum damage.

Chidiebere would clear the way for me to get into a fighter that I could use to decimate the fleet as they squatted on the fields, their pilots too distracted by the Ssintha setting everything on fire.

"Break the transponder," Jeremy had told me. "And we'll be there."

Shaking out of my reverie, I carefully placed the dish on the low table in the great hall before bowing and taking my place with my face towards the wall in a corner, ready to take the empty dish back when the Spider lord and his guests were done. I forced blankness onto my face as if I were a slave trying to think loyal thoughts, and then settled in to listen.

It was a potentially dangerous position, as the Spiders were often apt to begin feeding on the slaves that brought them their meals, but that was why it had been so easy to get the job. I wasn't afraid – I could fight them easily enough, although I would only do so if absolutely necessary so as to not give away the mission.

"Later today, at dawn, I will give the signal," the largest Spider was saying as he reached for the remains of the human. I pretended I wasn't listening.

"You don't think that there will be any trouble from the resistance?" another asked him. I could hear him sinking his fangs into the dish and I forced myself to not gag.

"Of course I expect trouble," the other responded. "But as I am the strongest Spider lord in Somolonania, I don't think that I will have any problems in responding to the said trouble."

I could feel the resentful glances sent between the Spider lord's guests. So they didn't like his presumptuous air? Well, if was the truth they would have to deal with it.

"And what of Maya? You don't think she will arrive?"

I didn't freeze.

"Oh, I don't know. It's hard to say, the _Princess _has been rather inactive for the past ten years. An escape now, yes, but back into action so soon? I don't think anyone even recognizes her anymore, except for those who organized her capture."

The talk turned to other things and I chanced a glance over my shoulder and confirmed the platter was empty before hurrying it out of the hall.

I dropped it off at the kitchen before hurrying out into the fields in the darkness of early morning. The slaves would be up now, I knew, and I wanted to find Tom, Xel or Solethi to find out where the Spider lord would be when he announced the liftoff. I needed to physically be there to hear his signal so I could know when to call in Jeremy and only a slave who had been working at the Spider's palace would know.

I found Tom easily enough, his fair skin showing up against the darkness of the night. He was digging into the dirt with his own hands, and I dropped to my knees and began following the furrows, always slowly making my way towards him.

It took an agonizing half an hour, but finally, my hands covered his and he looked up in surprise.

"Princess," Tom whispered, and then winced when his coin flashed. I kept my head down and continued digging.

"Tom… I need your help."

"Anything for you, Princess," and this time I noticed that his coin didn't flash. Why not? Confused, I asked him about it and he grinned ruefully.

"It doesn't work on me as often as it does on the others – after fighting with a Yeerk in my head for so long this thing doesn't really affect me too much."

I leaned forward and touched his cheek. "Tom… I'm sorry… just… sorry. I mean…"

I stopped, unable to go on, and then forced myself to speak again. "It's been ten years, no? And I didn't do anything. I don't remember anything from the last ten years, Tom, I think that I'm going crazy, the last thing I remember…"

I paused again, and asked, "Tom… how is it that you keep going?"

"Of course I keep going, keep hoping for freedom. The sun still rises, doesn't it?

His coin flashed, and he winced again, and I looked at the ground. "Oh, Tom…"

"Tell me what you need."

"Where is the Spider lord going to be when he signals for the takeoff of the fleet?"

He stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes. "Come with me, I'll show you. It's going to happen fairly soon, actually, so we should hurry."

I stood up, surprised. "You mean you can just walk off? No guards?"

Tom pointed at his silver coin that wasn't flashing. "These are our only guards and for those who are more immune…"

I took the hint and waited when he told me he would be back in five minutes to get some water, and then I began following as Tom led me further and further away from the fields. We walked in silence for almost another half hour until finally I said, "Tom? Where are we going?"

"Princ…" he choked out, and then he fell to the ground. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

"So, _Princess_, you have finally decided to start causing trouble again."

It was the voice of the Spider lord.

I didn't look at him, but instead kept my eyes on Tom who was kneeling, his face down. How could he… Tom… I had trusted him with my life, he had sworn never to hurt me…

His coin hadn't been flashing because he had been planning on betraying me all along. Tom had lied, saying that he was more immune to the coin when in reality it had let him bring me out here.

And suddenly Xel and Solethi were dragged out and forced to kneel beside him, two Spiders eagerly gloating over the three of them, their fangs out and ready. They too refused to look at me.

So that was why the three of them had been put together. As bait, for me. The Spiders knew that if I ever started rebelling, I would go straight to what remained of my War Council. They knew I was loyal.

A lot of good that did me, I thought bitterly, and then I faced the Spider lord.

"What is your name?"

He hissed something at me, and I barely caught it. It was a whisper, a sigh captured by the breeze.

His'th.

"His'th," I echoed. "What do you want of me?"

"I want you to die with honor."

Surprised, I turned my head slightly. To die with honor? He didn't hate me like all the other Spiders seemed to?

"You were a worthy opponent," His'th continued. "We do not feast on those who are worthy, but execute them painlessly as they deserve. For the worthy endured much pain in life, and so should be freed from such pain in death."

Desperately I thought, trying to find a way out of this situation. The transponder, it was still in my skirt, I could alert Jeremy, all I needed was a few more minutes and then the ships would be ready for takeoff and ready for destruction.

"No!" one of the Spiders guards hissed at His'th. "Do you know what she has done? Do you know who she is?"

His'th turned on the guard ferociously and rubbed his legs together. "Fool, do you not know who _I _am?"

I slowly sneaked my hand down, down, towards the ground, through the layers of my dress and I grasped the transponder with one hand when I found myself flung through the air, picked up by two Spider legs and tossed aside.

The transponder flew out of my hand.

I instinctively began morphing, and I half leapt, half hobbled away from the three Spiders who cried out in alarm. The one who had wanted to kill me rushed forward, and I managed to kill him with my just formed Komodo dragon claws.

I snarled at the remaining two Spiders, at His'th and the last guard as I tore apart the Spider in my jaws and flung his body at them while the rest of me finished morphing. I stood on the ground, a dangerous lizard only one jump away from the transponder.

I could hear the activity going on behind me, and knew that the Spiders were getting ready to launch with the sun's first light. I gathered myself together, ready to leap with a defiant roar whenever His'th gave the order to launch the fleet.

His'th drew his breath in sharply, and I grinned my fangs at him. He nodded slightly.

"You are indeed worthy, Princess Maya. But I think in the end you will realize that you have lost. I will give the order to launch in five seconds, and after that, no one will be able to starve a Spider again."

_Five._

"I also want you to know that when I give the order for the ships to launch, the Spider guard here will kill all three of your former War Council members."

_Four._

I looked around, at the Vampire Spiders who were approaching, at the spaceships that were going to take off to bring their pain to other worlds, and at Tom, and Xel and Solethi who knelt only a leap away from me, a leap away from being saved from a death by a Spider's fangs. Tom looked up at me, tears in his eyes as the coin in his forehead flashed brilliantly, catching the rising sun's rays.

His mouthed the word "get the ships," fighting the pain his rebellion brought.

_Three._

And there was the transponder, lying in the dew drenched grass, with Jeremy and the Ssintha waiting to be called in to fight and die in battle.

_Two._

The people I called my own, or the rest of the universe.

What would I choose?

The sun burst over the edge of the horizon, lighting up Somolonania with dazzling glory, and faintly I remembered what Tom had told me. Of course I keep going, keep hoping for freedom. The sun still rises, doesn't it?

_One._

I leaped.


	13. Learning to Forgive

Chapter 13: Learning to Forgive

_What is this awesome mystery  
that is taking place within me?  
I can find no words to express it;  
my poor hand is unable to capture it  
in describing the praise and glory that belong  
to the One who is above all praise,  
and who transcends every word..._

_My intellect sees what has happened,  
but it cannot explain it.  
It can see, and wishes to explain,  
but can find no word that will suffice;  
for what it sees is invisible and entirely formless,  
simple, completely uncompounded,  
unbounded in its awesome greatness._

_What I have seen is the totality recapitulated as one,  
received not in essence but by participation.  
Just as if you lit a flame from a flame,  
it is the whole flame you receive._

_Symeon the New Theologian_

INTERESTING CHOICE, NADAR. VERY INTERESTING.

I looked around, and found myself floating in space, arms and legs resting on an invisible armchair.

The voice wasn't of the Ellimist, or Crayak. It was…it was that same voice, that voice that Jake had described, the voice that had said that his choice was interesting, oh, so many lifetimes ago.

I made no comment back, but waited, trying to control my anger at these meddling beings. Was my life not my own? Was I nothing but a doll to play with, by three cackling hags who called themselves Fate?

And then _He_ came.

I felt His presence before I heard his voice, which wasn't booming like Crayak's, or the Ellimist's, or this new being.

"Begone, Tellak."

The Tellak, as I assumed the being was called, shrieked in defiance, but obeyed, vowing to return.

_He_ said nothing, but waited.

I waited too, until finally, my voice trembling, I asked, "Who are you?"

"I AM."

I started, and then felt His push, felt His nudge, and realized that He was the being that had led me to North Korea, who had stopped my despair after Eun-hee died, who had stopped my suicide after my father had died, who had pushed me, and guided me, and never let me die.

And I trembled with rage this time, at the being who had been so unfair to me.

"I hate you!" I shrieked, pouring out my hate and anger. "This is all _your_ fault! I hate you! You made my life this way, and now, I know, that I would choose _nothing, _I would choose to let my people die, because of _you!_"

I was ranting, making no sense, and I knew it, but still, I poured everything out to Him, because I hated Him, hated Him beyond measure, hated Him blindly, with deserving wrath.

And then, He showed me His power.

FLASH!

I was still in space, watching as the gasses of the universe swirled, and the asteroids smashed, when planets began forming. I recognized one of them as Earth, and then, I saw His hand, guiding it, molding it as it took shape.

"WHERE WERE YOU," He boomed, "WHEN I LAID THE EARTH'S FOUNDATION? TELL ME, IF YOU UDERSTAND. WHO MARKED OFF ITS DIMENSIONS? SURELY YOU KNOW! WHO STRETCHED A MEASURING LINE ACROSS IT? ON WHAT WERE ITS FOOTINGS SET, OR WHO LAID ITS CORNERSTONE – WHILE THE MORNING STARS SANG TOGETHER AND ALL THE ANGELS SHOUTED FOR JOY?"

I had no answer, and He knew it. He continued more quietly, with just as much power, but now more majesty, more grace, and more strength.

"Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in think darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?

"Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?

"The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.

"Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea and starry heavens or walked in the recesses of the deep and in endless space? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth, of the universe? Tell me, if you know all this.

"What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived for so long, you have been through so many things!

"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?

"Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or the morning star in its season, or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up the Creator's dominion over the earth?

"Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'? Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?"

I cried out in fear, at the sights and the sounds that were surrounding me, as the Creator showed me the wild animals that no sentient could tame, showed me the planets around the earth, showed me the galaxies, with their other species, their animals, their worlds, until finally He said, "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Let she who accuses the Creator answer Him!"

I had no answer. What was there to say?

"Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like the Creator's, and can your voice thunder like His? Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at every proud sentient and bring her low, look at every proud sentient and humble her, crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you."

And then I couldn't stand it, I burst out, "And when did you crush the wicked and humble the proud? Everywhere I look I see people who hate, people who hurt others, and people who _are wicked_!"

"And who are you to judge? Every sentient is subject to my command, every sentient is drawn to death – do you have power over death?"

I always heard the cliché that as you die, your life flashes before your eyes. And now, I knew it wasn't life that was going through my head, but death, all the death that I had given out, all the death I had dealt with, all the death that was mine.

Faster and faster, my sins whirled through my mind, torturing me as I watched myself grow with hate and bitterness, as I struck against the helpless, always defending myself by accusing the Creator, even subconsciously, as I killed and hated and feared.

And I was an eight-year-old girl again in North Korea, shooting my gun into a desperate man's face, a man who had sold us to save his family. I saw and I screamed as I shot that same gun into his children and his mother, who were starving to death just like us.

I was teaching Oscar to hate and to be a Nadar, I told him to kill the man, and I was there as Oscar slit the razor across the throat of the pearl fisher and as the warm blood slipped through his fingers.

And already enslaved by my hatred I saw as I threw backwards into the flames men who were as enslaved as me and had given into their lusts just as I gave into my lust for blood.

At school I was pounding my fist into a boy's face, over and over and over again, just for sheer joy, because I liked the screaming, I liked giving him pain since I could finally deliver it instead of receive it.

Burning the bar that my father had died in, killing people who drowned themselves with alcohol in despair and grief, I murdered them all.

And thousands more, everything was upon me, and I began screaming, as I felt my sin drowning me, and I knew, yes, this is justice, this is what I should pay for doing all this.

This is Hell.

I screamed, begging the Creator to stop, and I knew it wouldn't it wouldn't it wouldn't when –

I saw a man, in the distance, and looking at him made the pressure decrease, made it go away somehow, and I saw that all the sins of the world were being heaped on him, and I saw mine go to him as well, mine cover his head as he died, dying for the sins of the world.

And I saw that he died, and went through the torture and the agony that I had just touched, but for all the world, and yet he was raised from the dead by the Creator for this man was the only innocent sentient ever to have lived.

And in that moment, I understood.

"Do you want justice?" the Creator asked.

"Oh, Lord," I responded.

"Do you want mercy?" the Creator asked.

"Yes, Lord," I said, and I sensed the Creator smiling, knowing that I wanted mercy now that I knew what justice was.

And I looked at the suffering man again.

"That is my mercy, and my justice, as well."

For only with blood can blood be paid.

And in that moment, I knew my blood-price had been paid, for the man, the Creator's son, had died so that I would live, and in dying, had set me free. The Creator had dealt justice by giving our sins to His son, and had been merciful in the same way.

I was free.

I fell to my knees and worshipped the Creator.

And I remembered.

I remembered those that had shown me the love that the Creator shows to all. I remembered Tom, and Taylor, and Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel (oh, Rachel), and Tobias, and my mother and father and Oscar and all my children (my sweet children), and Anna, and further back, to the dolphins, to Beloved Son and Old One and then to the pearl fisher's children, and then to Oba, and Eun-hee, and my brother and Mamai.

Their faces floated past me in my memory, and I wept to think of the hatred that I had taught them, the love of death which I had ingrained into them.

And I also remembered those I had hated, the faces of the dead that I had killed. The bar people who had killed my father. The street gangs whom my children and I had fought daily. The pearl fisher who I had Oscar kill. The North Korean soldiers.

And I saw the grief of the Creator for them as I killed them, and at the same time, the grief that He had felt for me when I had enjoyed it, reveled in the blood that spilled forth.

And I saw His infinite forgiveness (forgiving me!) and I saw my loved ones, forgiving me for hurting them, and I saw them forgiving me for teaching them how to hate.

And slowly, I began to forgive myself.


	14. Mindful

Chapter 14: Mindful

_Every day  
I see or hear  
something  
that more or less_

_kills me  
with delight,  
that leaves me  
like a needle_

_in the haystack  
of light.  
It was what I was born for -  
to look, to listen,_

_to lose myself  
inside this soft world -  
to instruct myself  
over and over_

_in joy,  
and acclamation.  
Nor am I talking  
about the exceptional,_

_the fearful, the dreadful,  
the very extravagant -  
but of the ordinary,  
the common, the very drab,_

_the daily presentations.  
Oh, good scholar,  
I say to myself,  
how can you help_

_but grow wise  
with such teachings  
as these -  
the untrimmable light_

_of the world,  
the ocean's shine,  
the prayers that are made  
out of grass?_

_Mary Oliver_

I shot up from inside my tent, breathing hard.

"Princess?" Taylor's voice muttered sleepily. "What's wrong?"

I don't know what came over me, but suddenly, I laughed. I turned over on the floor, and tugged at Taylor's arms, pulling her up as I laughed hysterically, letting the mirth fill me to overflowing.

"I'm free," I breathed, and jumped to my feet. Where was that burden? That burden of guilt and shame I had carried for so long… where was it? Gone, gone, gone!

Taylor craned her neck to look at me. "Princess, are you okay?"

I nodded, and then said, "I need to go find someone," and then ran out of the tent into the darkness of the night. I found Jenny, and then from her found out the tent of the woman whose son had died that night.

I entered her tent carefully, and found her still weeping, still holding the dead body of her son in her arms. I knelt down beside her, and waited until she looked up.

"Princess," she murmured, and then bowed her head when I embraced her.

"I've lost children too," I told her. "Every single child I called my own, they died and now they live only in my heart."

Stunned by my own words, I too began shedding tears at the thought of my dear dead children, the children whose deaths I had refused to let go of in my pain and anger. But they were truly dead now, weren't they?

"It is good to grieve," the woman responded suddenly. "It is right to show our love."

And we wept together, this unknown mother and I, and we held each other as we showed our love to the dead, to the living, and to each other.

**Author's Note**

A short chapter, yes, so I'm updating earlier than normal, and the next chapter is going to be short so I'll put that up this week as well. The next week, however, I won't have access to a computer. So that Friday update will be late, unfortunately. But I have a good excuse – I'm starting college this Sunday and spending the next week volunteering with college kids at a youth shelter (without access to Internet.) But I'm still excited!

And I wanted to welcome Chinmayi – glad to meet you! If you check out my bio, you'll see all my fics, those already written as well as those I plan to write. Hope that answers your question!


	15. New Life

Chapter 15: New Life

_The taste  
of rain  
-- Why kneel?_

_Jack Kerouac_

I was standing in the mist with Tom, lifting my arms up as I opened my mouth and drew in great breaths, tasting the Somolonanian rain.

I was drinking Somo juice with Xelaman, and we reveled in the taste of the sweet liquid, as I laughed and laughed and laughed.

I was flying through the air with Keav, the wind pushing against our small bird bodies as we climbed higher and higher into the atmosphere, before speeding back down as fast as we possibly could.

I was talking with Jeremy, throwing words into the air for the sheer joy of hearing them, and laughing as he responded with his perfectly timed sarcasm and wit.

I was galloping across the fields with Solethi, as we recited the oaths of the warrior together, and performed the morning ritual – together.

I was cooking with Taylor, as she fed the hungry children that came by, and as she showed me the joy of seeing their faces light up.

I was watching the sun rise with Alexa, as she touched my shoulder and told me with her eyes that life was beautiful.

**Author's Note**

Really short, I know, but I thought it fit. Back to regular sized (and longer) chapters next week!


	16. To Win Peace

Chapter 16: To Win Peace

**From: Solethi (aristhsolethi at chee dot net)**

**To: Xelaman (aristhxel at chee dot net)**

**Re: Happy Landing Day**

**Time: 0942 01/01/03**

**It is strange to think that we have been on this planet for two years, and even stranger to think that we are all still alive. Did you ever think that you would be living on a planet other than the Home World, permanently exiled from your People? For you truly are exiled, my former student. I am a Nadar, and my family is dead – the Nadar here are now my People, and I am here to protect the Kyan. There is no other life for me, and I would wish it no other way.**

**But you, you are young, yet, and strong hearted. How were you able to control your grief, your anger at the world? Do you long to run on the fields of the Andalite Home World, to see the red and blue of the trees?**

**I apologize for releasing this burden of my heart to you. Sometimes I cannot help but lean back and think, how in the galaxies above did I manage to end up where I am now? How is it that my fate was so inextricably tied to that of a young Elemaki girl that I met once and thought I would never meet again?**

**I miss my wife, Xelaman. I miss my children. I miss seeing other four footed creatures who know of the gods and who dance by morph. Strange, is it not? We are very alone here, and yet it is only I who long to be with my species after all these years.**

**Actually, that is not true. Do you know who I wish to spend my dying days with? The Elemaki. I never truly loved my wife the way I should have, and although I did my best to help her people, I never truly learned who they were. The quadruped in the Princess was the only Elemaki I have ever spoken to at any length – do you think she misses her family? She is all alone in the world as well, but somehow she never seems to look back.**

**Forgive me. I am a lonely old Andalite who wishes he had died with his wife and who doesn't know what he is doing in this new world.**

(You look… different, Princess.)

I grinned with blue eyes and shook out my now black hair. "I felt like it was time for a change. I didn't really change my facial features at all in this Forsil Maneuver, just the color of my hair and eyes."

Xelaman smiled with his eyestalks. (Black hair and blue eyes? That is not normal among humans, is it?)

"Hey, I thought it was a nice mix. Eun-hee's hair, Anna's body, Rachel's eyes in my old face…"

I paused, the thought of Rachel still painful to me, and then said, "She was beautiful."

Xelaman answered almost fervently, (I can believe it.)

I barely heard him, too lost in my own thoughts. When was the last time I had allowed myself to think of Rachel, my fellow warrior who showed no fear?

It was time to let go.

"I could have saved her," I continued, more to myself than anything. "But instead, I came too late to do anything. You know, I've always failed. Eun-hee died and I didn't save her, Anna died and I didn't save her, and Rachel died and I didn't save her.

"But the funny thing was, nobody blamed me. Eun-hee didn't and Anna didn't and I know Rachel wouldn't have. She wasn't that kind of a person. You know… the harshest thing out all of this is that Rachel died in vain because of me."

(No, she didn't,) Xelaman contradicted. Surprised, I turned to look at him. (I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt – this is the first time you've spoken of Rachel in two years, I…)

"No, go ahead," I encouraged.

(Rachel did not die in vain. She died to save the Nadar from themselves.)

He paused, and then said more earnestly, (Princess, look around you. Look at your People, look at how they are living. This is the Home World of the Nadar, a planet that will accept them from all over the universe. It is here that the Nadar can grow to become the protectors of Kyan, which is what they were truly meant to be. And without Rachel's death, none of this would have happened.)

"She could have lived," I responded quietly. "She could have lived and we would have escaped together."

(And gone back to Earth.)

I began to look around me, at the young Ssintha who were back into their awkward lizard stages, not the glorious dragons they would become ten years later. At the children who were playing in relative safety, as women and men walked by hand in hand, allowing themselves to finally keep one mate.

I noticed a Nadar, a fourteen-year-old boy who was playing with the children, down on his hands and knees. He was an effective fighter, I had seen him in action more than once, and yet here he was, among the Kyan.

"This is why we fight," I said, again, more to myself. "We are guardians of the Kyan."

(Rachel died so that you could escape – in the heat of battle one of you were sure to die, and it was her. Had she escaped, she would have returned to Earth, which is not to fault her, but it is simply true. Her Home World was the world of humans, but you, your Home World is neither of the Andalites nor the Earthers but of the Nadar.)

I began nodding, not just with the truth of what Xelaman was saying, but because I finally knew it to be true, finally accepted it.

"Come," I said, turning to Xelaman, as I morphed to Elemaki. "I haven't been an Elemaki since I fought the Fight of the Forgiven with Aximili. Let's go to the fields and I will tell you of the Animorphs, of my Nadarlets, of my Korean children…"

My voice trailed off and I resumed in thought-speech. (I'll tell you of my mother and brother. I… I need to speak about them. All of them.)

Xelaman nodded and then took my blue hand. (Of course. But first, I must insist that I fight the Fight of the Forgiven with you.)

I smiled with my stalks and said, (Oh, Xelaman, I've already forgiven you a thousand times over. But yes, let's confirm it, it is never too often to fight this particular fight.)

We trotted away, gaining speed, and then raced across our camp, tail blades shining high as we ran for sheer joy.

---

"Aren't you nervous, Princess?" Keav whispered to me, showing some feeling for the first time in two years. I actually turned around to look at her, and she stared back. "Isn't it a little dangerous to attempt to speak to these Spiders after we've been brutally killing them off for two years?"

I shrugged. "Personally, no. The Spiders hold me in high esteem, I know that as much. They won't kill me in a painful manner. But in terms of everyone else… yes, I am slightly worried."

"You don't look it."

"You don't quite look that nervous either."

Keav smiled softly, and said, "Princess, you know I only have a year to live. I've had this body for fifteen years, and I can't say I've used it well, but I've used it at least, and now its time is up. Why should I try to avoid death now, when it is certain to come anyway? It's going to be painful either way."

I had no answer. Instead, I looked around at the envoy that we were in. Alexa, Keav and I, along with two aniarmies, were marching across the fields to meet a Spider envoy to negotiate terms of peace.

Alexa looked smug, and I almost had to laugh. She had refrained from saying "I told you so" but her face showed that she was feeling it. I must have made a noise because at that moment Alexa glanced at me, and then she grinned widely.

Alexa had arranged the meeting we were going to now. I had told her to fly to the Spiders and ask to speak to the one named His'th who I was pretty sure would agree to treaty talks. Sure enough, my gamble paid off and we were on our way, although most of us were still a little wary of being ambushed.

Keav had volunteered to be a part of the envoy, giving as her reason that if the Spiders proved traitorous she should go since she would die soon anyway. Our aniarmy escorts were also all volunteers, and a good many of them were former slaves, who had changed their minds about granting the Spiders amnesty.

"I remember when they were all ready to stone me for suggesting it," Alexa had murmured to me when we were first setting out. "The major attack on Rachel and two years of warfare convinced them otherwise."

I peered out into the vast flatness of the area and could just barely make out a blotch in the distance. I ordered one of the Nadar to go up in bird morph and she did, circling high above us before reporting, (It's the Spiders.)

Instantly the two aniarmies with us melted into their battle morphs, ready for action. I could feel Keav shift beside me and I told her, "Morph into something that can run."

Keav responded, "But the Spiders can't even keep up with me if I'm running the pace of a human, wouldn't it be better for me to stay as I am, to show some semblance of trust? I mean, yeah, the Spiders will be able to endure longer than me, but if there is any trouble, I'll sprint, morph and then I'll be out of here."

Reluctantly, I nodded, still remembering the pain of having a Spider's fangs in me. I didn't want Keav to have to go through that for me.

I called a halt and we waited for the Spiders, with several morphed Nadar in the sky. They reported that nobody else was around, it was only the envoy in front of us that was about as large as ours.

"Maya, what if they attack us?" Alexa asked suddenly. I reached out a hand and touched her shoulder and said, "No one will blame you if this treaty fails, Alexa. Half the reason we're out here is to gain more information about the psychology of the Spiders, to see if treaties are even possible with them. And if I die, Jeremy will take over. Simple as that."

Alexa glanced at me. "You really have changed."

I had no time to respond, for the Spiders were almost there and I needed to prepare myself. Breathing deeply, I straightened my shoulder and turned to face the nightmares of the Kyan.

"Princess Maya," the Spider in the lead hissed. I didn't recognize his features, but I did recognize his voice. It was His'th.

"We meet at last," he said, and shifted forward. I could feel the tension grow around me, and I clung to the memory of his words from a future that never happened. _I want you to die with honor. _These Spiders had a sense of honor, if nothing else, and I had to remember that.

"I have come to offer terms of peace," I said, my voice steady. "To offer a treaty of co-existence between Mayanites and the His'anthrop."

I had used the Spider's word for themselves, the His'anthrop, in order to make our deal more pleasant, and had reluctantly agreed after much persuasion to use the word "Mayanites" to describe ourselves. Taylor had come up with the term, and had begun using it and it had spread like wildfire no matter how much I insisted that it was a stupid name. Amadi had insisted on having a vote on the matter, and the decision to use the term was overwhelming.

You know, sometimes I hate democracy.

The Spiders were silent for a moment, and then His'th said shortly, "No."

I could feel Alexa sag next to me, but I pushed on. "Why not?"

His'th was quiet for another long moment, and then he sighed, almost like a human. "Princess, Princess, do you not know of the visions of the Somolonanians mothers?"

Puzzled, I stared at him. What did the visions of the Old Mothers have to do with our negotiations? I had learned since I came that the Old Mothers, when they gathered together, would occasionally stand in a trance as they all participated in some bizarre ritual. When they woke out of it they would describe an event happening in the future. So far none of these visions had been tested yet as they all took place much later in the future, but the Somolonanians claimed that there had been a vision of our landing before we arrived.

"I have lived on this soil for a long time, Princess. I know that the visions of the Somolonanian mothers, and I have seen them come true in my life here. My spies have told me of a very recent vision, one that even you, Princess, will not have heard of. It is a vision of our total defeat, and your absolute victory."

I could sense the Nadar stirring around me, and I responded, "Then why not thwart this vision and make peace with us?"

His'th stood up on all eight legs and declared proudly, "Because we are the His'anthrop! We do not back down and hide from our destiny. We face the future unflinchingly and if that future is one of death, then we will die proudly."

I stared at him openly, flabbergasted. This Spider believed he was going to die, and he was refusing the one avenue towards staying alive? Didn't he realize that by refusing to agree to our treaty he would ensure that the vision would come true?

"To be of the His'anthrop is of the highest honor," His'th continued. "To be born, to live and to die in blood. That is our calling and that is our fate. What is life, if we are ashamed of who we are? Princess, I see you and fellow Mayanites, and I cannot help but think that you are shameful, disgusting creatures."

My body tightened, and I glared at him coolly. These negotiations were not like those I conducted with the Somolonanians, in which insulting was common. An affront like that couldn't be tolerated if we were to continue a diplomatic relationship.

"And why is that, my friend, who drinks the blood of children?"

"Because, Princess, you dare to even consider changing your form. Your natural body that you should be proud of above all else, you disregard it and shape shift freely. And you dare to come here to offer this to us – don't speak, I know it is true. For how else would His'anthrop and Mayanite be at peace? We live on blood, and as long as we do so, we will never be able to co-exist. You come to us to offer us the power of shape shifting so we that we will no longer be the His'anthrop and that offer is what we reject."

(He's smarter than we gave him credit for,) Keav sent to me, and I silently agreed.

"In that case, His'th, I wish to negotiate terms of this war," I responded. "I wish there to be civility in this war, attacks only against warriors and not against civilians, especially not children."

Suddenly, the Spiders laughed, all at once, the entire envoy, a screeching sound. I smiled sadly as well, for I knew how ridiculous my offer had sounded. I was a Nadar, after all, wasn't I? Even though I had changed what being a Nadar meant, I still understood the mentality of the His'anthrop. War was brutal, and total. To put rules on it was to make it into a game, and who could be so sick to play such a deadly game?

"I think you already understand why we cannot agree," His'th told me after he had finished laughing, and I nodded. Yes, I understood.

"In that case, I wish you well," His'th continued. "You are a worthy opponent – the worthiest I have ever met, and I want you to know that it is a high honor that I say this to you, a shape shifter."

I said nothing, but bowed deeply. His'th would understand that I was honoring him as well, and then the Spiders turned and began making their way back to their nests, and we turned to return to Rachel.

"Well, that was a waste of time," Alexa said, her voice full of bitter disappointment when a Nadar from the sky said with her voice full of urgency, (Princess, there is a Spider coming this way!)

I whipped around and saw a lone Spider coming over the plain, in obvious haste. My aniarmies tensed, and I put out my hand. "No killing. I want to know what she wants."

"Princess," the Spider hissed as soon as she was near. "Princess… I…"

Suddenly, the Spider's voice broke and she began shuddering, kneeling on her legs. Uncertain of what to do, I held the aniarmies back when Alexa walked forward and placed her hand on the Spider's foreleg, in obvious comfort.

Had it been anyone but Alexa, we would have frozen, but her immortality made us a little less nervous.

The Spider was still for a moment, and then she stood up straight, towering over us. "Princess Maya, I wish to defect."

Stunned, I managed to whisper, "What?"

More firmly, the Spider continued. "I wish to defect. I wish to become a Mayanite. I wish to… shape shift and no longer be of the His'anthrop."

Skeptically, Keav broke through. "But His'th just told us it was of the greatest dishonor for a Spi… for the His'anthrop to morph, that all of you would rather die in your own bodies than live in another form."

"I know, I know," the Spider pleaded. "But I can't stand this anymore. I can't stand this constant warfare, this starving slowly to death… I'm one of the weakest and smallest, I know that I'm going to be next to be slaughtered and I can't bear waiting. Oh, Princess, I've seen the way you Mayanites live and I want it, and if that means I am a horrible creature, if that means I'm a disgusting, dishonorable…"

The Spider's voice broke down, and I could feel the clear consternation coming from those around me, especially from the former slaves. Even I was surprised at the… _sentience _of the creature.

"You understand," I said, "That we will need to mind scan you, perhaps infest you temporarily with a Yeerk, in order to make sure you are not here to spy on us."

The Spider nodded and said, "I would rather have your mercy than that of His'th."

Alexa looked back at me, but said to the Spider that she was still with, "Well, it's a good thing that you can now, instead of a week ago," and I had to grin.

"What is your name?" I asked, and the Spider responded, "His'onta."

"His'onta… The Spid – the His'anthrop won't miss you from the envoy?"

His'onta replied, "No, I broke away supposedly to be a rear guard in case you attacked them from behind, and as soon as I was out of sight I ran to find you."

Tentatively, I walked forward, and also placed a hand on one of His'onta's legs. "Then let's go to Rachel."

"To Rachelarem?" His'onta asked, and then quickly explained, "Arem means nest, or home and so I thought…"

I smiled. "Yes. To Rachelarem. You'll be free there, free from having to drink blood to survive."

His'onta's eyes shined. "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

I smiled again. Oh, I had some sort of idea what it meant to be free from blood lust. In fact, I knew exactly what His'onta meant.

**Author's Note**

Yes, A-cat, the blue eyes and black hair idea comes straight from our conversation. I decided to include it since I liked the mental image you had of Maya better than my mental image. Hope everyone enjoys the extension of this chapter as well – it was ten pages instead of the usual seven or eight!


	17. Sacrifices

Chapter 17: Sacrifices

**From: Xelaman (aristhxel at chee dot net)**

**To: Solethi (aristhsolethi at chee dot net)**

**Re: Re: Happy Landing Day**

**Time: 1034 01/03/03**

**Happy Landing Day, indeed.**

**Ah, Solethi, you speak with words of loneliness but be glad at least that you do not carry the burden of guilt that I bear. I knew my fate was to follow the Princess in undying loyalty as soon as I saw her face so many years ago when she and I were just children. Perhaps that is why I hated her so much then – hated how an Elemaki would dare to share the face of the goddess of peace.**

**For she truly is now becoming like the goddess of peace. I have never seen her so radiant, so joyful, so free before. She was always burdened by fear or shame or hatred and now she is free to love.**

**You unburden your heart to me, Solethi, and I will comfort you and tell you, do not fear and do not lose hope. The Princess is loyal and always has been, and she will not leave the Elemaki to suffer and die under the unrelenting hands of the Andalites. These fields will see our species once again, and if I may dare dream, I dream that Andalites and Elemaki will become true Andalaki here on the plains of Osgaran. You will not die alone.**

**And now I will tell you of my troubles, for it is true, we must depend on each other for no one else here has the same history of Andalite heritage that we share. You were my teacher once, and you taught me all you knew and I leaned on you for the strength to survive. I must ask your counsel once again, and then offer you strength to hold on.**

**Solethi, I must confess – I am out of my depth here. I am not a fighter like you, nor as skilled of a tactician, nor am I a Nadar, or a very good pilot, or even as understanding of other species as is Tom. I cannot believe as strongly as Alexa in peace, even with the new approval of the Princess. I am not fierce, and I can only fight when duty calls me.**

**Oh, Solethi, my teacher, I long to make a sacrifice, a great sacrifice that will ease the burden of my hearts. I hunger to make this sacrifice, to clean myself of my selfishness and timidity. And I know must make it for the Princess – who else? For it is I who had her brother killed, and I who tormented her without abandon.**

**But enough of this. Let us go feed together and talk of the stupidity of the Andalite military – one of your favorite topics, I know. Let us run across the grass of this new world and rejoice, for we are alive and what more, we are free. We have never been enslaved the way so many have been, and for that, let us be grateful.**

"Maya, I have a vision to tell you that will lessen very slightly the burden of your downtrodden hearts!"

I glanced up at Yomanti, who was roaring her other head off. She still hadn't managed to learn how to speak like a Mayanite, but she didn't take offense when I didn't speak like a Somolonanian, so I was satisfied. "I think I already heard of it – the vision of our victory over the Spiders?"

"Yes," she replied. "I did not know that the news of it would travel so quickly. Then again, I am such a stupid beast." Yomanti shook her head, and then said, "But Maya, I have another thing I must tell to you, although I am not so sure that you are worthy to hear it."

I looked up again, slightly annoyed by the interruption. I was working with Taylor and Solethi on a chemical agent that would react with dirt to turn it into water – her Yeerk had been a scientist, and Solethi had Andalite knowledge that was very useful. I started to ask whether Yomanti could tell me later, when Taylor jumped in.

"Go ahead, Princess, Solethi and I still have a knot to work out, you can speak to Yomanti during that time."

I nodded, and then led Yomanti away from the pair, closer to the lake where we could speak privately. We walked past two humans who were guzzling down Somo juice frantically, their faces stained and Yomanti asked me, "What are those despicable nyashas doing?"

I almost laughed, genuinely amused at how the humans had picked up the Ssintha word for creature from the Ssintha, and how the Somolonanians had in turn picked the word from the humans, but I controlled myself and instead said, "Oh, that is Xelaman and His'onta in human morph, enjoying the sense of taste. Well, His'onta is a nothlit, but at any rate, the only thing we can afford for people to eat or drink without rationing is Somo juice, so they're having some fun."

"It is disturbing to see our the liquid we use to see our visions used in such a debauched manner," Yomanti complained to me, and then said, "But Maya, I am not here to speak to you about the rudeness of your People, but of my name."

"Your name?"

"Yes. You see… Yomanti is not my true name."

"I thought as much," I responded. "It sounds more like an Andalite name to me, to tell you the truth."

"It is the name of an Andalite. Or… more specifically, that of an Elemaki."

She captured my attention instantly, and I lifted my eyebrows. "And how would you learn the name of an Elemaki before we arrived? Did an Elemaki visit here?"

"No, no, of course not. You see… well, first I must explain another one of our lowly customs to you and wait for your slow mind to understand it. To begin, when I first adopted this adult form and became the true Old Mother of my tribe, unworthy though I may be, and I am certainly unworthy -"

"Yomanti, just tell me the custom."

"Yes. Well, we were all young Old Mothers, and it was our first vision as adults since three cycles ago. It is the custom of an Old Mother to pick a name from this first vision, and to use it as her own as her true name is the name of the entire tribe. My vision… my vision was of an Elemaki, giving up his life for someone I only later recognized as you, as you are now with black hair and blue eyes. You spoke with the Elemaki and called him Yomanti, and he called you daughter of Sarani."

I found myself clenching my hands together, and I forced them to relax.

"I could have taken either the name Yomanti or Saranai, and after much consideration decided that I should take the name of the being who had actually been in my vision, not the one who was simply mentioned."

"So this vision hasn't taken place yet, then," I forced myself to say. Yomanti, Yomanti, did I know that name?

"My vision took me to a planet that was covered in blue-green grass, and from my talks with your fathers this is the Andalite Home World. You have not yet been on this planet with your current body, so no, I do not think that this vision has yet taken place."

I didn't want another person to die for me. Especially not someone who knew me as the daughter of Saranai.

"I thought you, in your appreciation for uselessness, might like to know."

I could barely thank Yomanti, but I suppose that the fact that I was thanking her at all was an incredible compliment. She seemed very pleased at any rate, and roared as she left.

Yomanti, Yomanti, why couldn't I remember that name? I stood for a long moment, and felt a memory coming back to me in the fogginess of my mind, but when I reached out to grasp it, it slipped away. Frustrated, I shook my head.

I kicked at the grass and then sat down at the edge of the lake, looking into the blue and gold water. I cupped my hand down into the water to scoop up a drink when suddenly something from under the waves jerked at my hand and I was yanked in. I barely had time to register that I was in the lake when something sharp jabbed me in the side, and I passed out.

--

When I came to I could tell that I was bound by sticky Spider rope.

Not just bound, cocooned. There wasn't even an opening for air, and when I twisted, I suddenly found myself getting very tired.

What was going on? I thought dimly. I thought Spiders couldn't swim… that was why I had finally agreed to not having the Chee keep a forcefield up in the lake when we were running low on energy. All the slaves had told me so and my own experience had confirmed it.

There was some serious hissing going on above me, and I forced myself to focus and listen to the words.

"… it took seven of the His'anthrop to kidnap her, _seven _of them drowned in order to bring this creatureand now you want to let her die in honor? The blood should be sucked from her veins as she dies, screaming!"

It was His'th who answered. "She will be executed in honor. Do you think that we should give up the ways of the His'anthrop even now, that we should indulge in blood lust of those who are worthy?"

Blood lust, I thought dreamily. I had indulged in that, hadn't I?

"We will leave her in the cocoon of our own silk, and she will die painlessly, as if falling asleep. That is the way of the His'anthrop and I dare any of you to defy our traditions of old."

It was then I heard someone bellow, and then felt myself lifted up by strong human arms. Who are you? I wanted to ask, but it took too much energy to move my lips, and so I simply hung limply.

"Please don't be dead, Princess," an anxious voice said, and I felt the Spider thread above my head rip open. I breathed in the air and with the air, my head became a little clearer, and the face above me came into focus.

"Xel?" I managed weakly. It was his human morph, a third African, a third Tai, and a third Caucasian. I tried to smile, but it took too many muscles and instead thought at him, (You're a… a third-breed. Not a half-breed.)

Suddenly, he cried out and dropped me, and I fell heavily. I lazily looked out at him and saw him fighting off a Spider. In the background I saw Yomanti taking on the rest of them by herself. Xelaman must have seen me get pulled into the lake, I mused, and the closest help was Yomanti. They followed me to rescue me, how sweet.

Xelaman managed to dispatch the Spider, and then he picked me up again like a child, muttered, "No time to morph," and then began running with me in his arms.

I assumed that he must have explained to Yomanti that he was leaving, because she roared out to him, "Yes, run, get out of here – these lousy Spiders will not be able to keep up with you! Even my cowardly nature can handle such horrible nyashas as these! Run, take Maya and go!"

"I don't have time to take you out of this Spider's silk," Xelaman told me. "So just hold on." He glanced over his shoulder and must have seen Spiders coming after him, because his speed picked up. "And keep talking so I know you're alive."

"Okay," I managed, but I was getting kind of annoyed with him. Why did he have to disturb my lovely sleep? I wanted to drift away, and he wasn't letting me.

"Sleep," I muttered. "Want to sleep."

"No, you don't," he said pleasantly enough, although his breathing was starting to become heavy. "Breathe in and out – it'll make you feel better."

I did as he told me to, and with every breath found myself a little bit more awake. But why should I be awake? Being awake wasn't very enjoyable, with me having to feel the pain in my back from being dragged around, probably by the Spiders. Much better to slow my breathing down, to close my eyes…

"Princess, wake up, _please_."

Again. My eyes jerked open and once again I became aware of my surroundings. My hands were trapped, Xelaman was breathing even more heavily as he kept running, my back hurt…

Xelaman was struggling for breath now, and the noise distracted me from trying to drift off again. I flicked my eyes upward, and saw the sweat falling down his brown skin and I thought briefly, was that Cassie's skin color? No, Cassie was darker…

"I have to stop," he whispered, and then answered himself with a, "No, I can't. Have to keep going."

We kept going, me drifting off every few minutes with Xelaman bringing me back again. We kept going, his feet pounding against the plains as the Spiders came closer and closer.

How long had it been? An hour? Constant running, as Xelaman's pace slowly slowed down, as he sobbed for breath when I glimpsed the blue and gold lake. Xelaman saw it too, for his pace increased briefly as he sprinted for it.

We were thirty seconds away. Twenty. Ten.

With a final gasp, Xelaman threw me into the lake and the Spider silk dissolved around me. I went underwater and then plowed up through the lake, panting, my head completely clear. I grabbed Xelaman who was next to me, and pulled him away from the edge of the lake, where the Spiders had gathered, hissing their hate. None of them dared to enter the water though, and so I was able to drag Xelaman backwards towards Rachelarem.

Strong hands reached out to pull him and me out of the lake, and we knelt there at the shore of the blue and gold waters, both of us breathless.

"Princess, I sent Alexa and Tom out to search for you with an aniarmy, His'onta told us that Spiders had seen you at the edge of the lake from across it and had kidnapped you, I mean, we always knew that Spiders gathered at the far side of the lake watching us, but they couldn't swim, how…"

Jeremy's words gave me something to cling to and I stood upright. "Contact them and tell her to see if Yomanti is safe."

"Too late."

I looked up at Alexa, who was coming in with a flock of birds.

"Yomanti is dead."

I sucked in my breath, shaking my head. No, no… no… please, no…

"She can't be dead," I blurted out. "That means her entire tribe is dead. None of them can morph to the next stage with out her – her entire tribe will be wiped out."

The silence that greeted me was answer enough.

"We found her right before she died, Princess… there was nothing we could do," Tom told me. "She told me to tell you that if either she or you had to die, it was better that it was she, because she would rise again when the floods came, but you would not."

"We don't even know what that means," I responded, but then I bowed my head. "I bless her name."

I turned to help Xelaman to his feet, and he took my hand and got heavily to his feet. Abruptly I remembered – he was still in human morph – and I grabbed him by his shoulders and said, "You have to demo…" when the look on his face stopped me.

"It's too late," he said quietly. "It was too late half an hour ago, when we were still running, and if I had stopped, the Spiders would have caught up to us."

Shakily, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closely to me, and we held each other, and I forced myself to release my bitterness and instead accept his sacrifice with gratitude.

"Jenny," I managed after we separated. "Put the forcefield back in through the lake."

She nodded, and then the crowd around us began to disperse.

"Look," I murmured to Xelaman when we were alone. "Look, the sun is setting."

"Look," Xelaman responded. "The moon is rising."

"Why did you do it?" I whispered fiercely. "Why? To give up your body, to become a nothlit, unable to morph…"

"I love you, Princess."

I shook my head and blinked away tears, but then thought, let them come. If I couldn't even shed tears for his fate, for the fate of Yomanti, then how was I showing them any respect?

So I let them fall, and he reached up his hand and brushed them away. I caught his hand, and pulled him closer to me and then Xelaman cupped my face with his hands and kissed me.

The only other guy I had ever kissed was Tom, and he had been warm and comforting, but Xelaman was passionate, kissing me even as tears ran down my face. We broke away, gasping, and then he reached out for me, apologizing, but I shook my head.

"Don't be sorry."

And then I kissed him again, under the rising moon, by the edge of the blue and gold lake as the wind whispered through the prairie grass and the whole planet stood still.

**Author's Note**

There, wasn't that sweet? And you see why I'm having so much trouble deciding who to pair Maya with? And A-cat, once again you've influenced my plot by noticing where the name Yomanti came from, even when I didn't notice. :D Although there is still more to come from that, never fear.


	18. Spidersbane and Silk

Chapter 18: Spidersbane and Silk

**From: His'onta (hisonta at chee dot net)**

**To: Maya (princess at chee dot net)**

**Re: There is another continent on this planet, you know**

**Time: 2349 02/19/03**

**Princess, **

**The chemical agent that Taylor, Solethi and I have been working off for almost the last two months is in its final stages of testing, and should be ready for use within the week. I know you had some plans of creating a moat around Rachelarem to make it so that we could live in relative safety, but I had another idea.**

**The Spiders have explored a large area of the planet pretty thoroughly, and I was a part of many exploring parties so I also know the land fairly well. Currently we are located pretty much in the center of the northern continent, with a southern continent further, well, south.**

**What I wanted to draw to your attention was the fact that the southern continent is only connected to the northern one (which I'll refer from now on to Mayaneria, despite your protests) through a fairly narrow land bridge. If the land bridge were not there, however, there would be a rather wide expanse of ocean in between the two continents. What is even more interesting is that there is no beach or shoreline on the southwest edge of Mayaneria (which is where the land bridge is), but rather high cliffs that are impassable.**

**I think that there is a way to use this natural geography to get rid of all of the Spiders, all at once. Instead of setting up a moat, why not use the ocean as a moat? If we could force the Spiders over the land bridge, and then get rid of the land bridge, we would trap them on the southern continent with no way across to us.**

**What do you think?**

**His'onta**

**Oh, and Princess, don't worry about whether I have any feelings of guilt over betraying the Spiders. I am still very much like the His'anthrop in terms of mindset about loyalty – absolute allegiance to one's species. I am now a human, and moreover, a Mayanite, and now I can never change that so I will be faithful to humans and to Mayanites until my death.**

It took at least a week after I received His'onta's email to convince the War Council and everyone else in Rachelarem that this was a good idea. Amadi supported the plan, but told me that although this was a military venture, and so was in the domain of the Nadar, it would be best if we had the support of the Kyan. So she held another referendum, which took about a week.

It really was amazing how Amadi held the Kyan together. She had set up a school for the children and adults, an adoption agency, and a community council that made all major decisions with her as the chair. There was even a fire house tent and a tent for those who had been made mentally ill by the Spiders.

"I'm not actually president, though, Princess," she had told me. "I've taken over the job of dictator, with the help of the council. We still make everyday decisions and only leave sweeping ones, the ones that need the Kyan's strong support, to the Kyan. I hope to have this turn into a real democracy someday, but for that we need to have enough security first."

"You sound like every dictator does right before he signs on as president for life," Jeremy had commented dryly, and Amadi had laughed. "Fortunately I'm not as corrupt as all of them, and I mean what I say."

"They say that too," he had responded, but we knew the difference. Amadi was trustworthy, and it was obvious from the way the Kyan were prospering, even under these constant attacks, that she genuinely cared about them.

At any rate, the referendum had passed. His'onta was pleased, but was afraid of ostracism and still didn't want people to know that she was a former Spider. I didn't blame her. Only the War Council and Amadi knew the truth, and Amadi had taken a long time before accepting His'onta as a Mayanite.

"Maya?"

I turned to face Jenny. "Yes?"

"I'm ready."

Jenny was going to help us keep the Spiders on the southern continent by putting up a forcefield at our end of the land bridge, a forcefield that would go through the dirt of the land bridge. That way when we added the chemical agent, nicknamed Spidersbane, to the soil of the land bridge, it would be stopped from traveling north by the forcefield, and would be forced to move south, eating up the entire land bridge and turning it into water. Taylor was storing just enough of the agent to take out the entire land bridge but not anything of the southern continent.

I nodded.

"Let's do it."

---

It took another month before we managed to push all the Spiders to the southwest edge of Mayaneria. The Chee helped us, by putting up large forcefield around the Spiders so they could move northwards, and so length by length we rounded up the Spiders and chased them together towards the land bridge.

"You know something I find incredibly ironic?" Jeremy told me after one particularly grueling day. "We all agreed before landed that we would not commit xenocide, that we would not herd off the native population into reservations, and that we would not resort to chemical warfare. And yet here we are doing all three."

"The Spiders aren't exactly native," His'onta had answered, hugging herself as we watched the Spiders try – and fail – to get through the barrier of the Chee. The wind had picked up and it was starting to get chilly. "I should know."

"You know," began Jeremy, "You picked a very attractive human form."

His'onta glared at him. "Well, you've come a long way from trying to kill me to hitting on me," she spat before stalking off.

"Wait, what did I say wrong?"

"I think she doesn't like to think about the way humans reproduce," Alexa responded quietly, her eyes on the trapped Spiders. "Since all she probably remembers from it is how much the humans loathed it since they were forced."

"Besides," Tom added. "She didn't pick the humans to morph, I chose them for her from volunteers. What I'm surprised about is how young she is – she looks about your age, Alexa."

"I'm 28, you know."

"Yeah, but you look like you're 17. And so does His'onta."

Keav shifted. "Well, she did tell us that she was one of the weakest and smallest Spiders, so presumably she meant youngest as well."

We all paused for a moment, and then Solethi asked, (Princess, is she truly to be trusted? I don't want to offend or question her abilities, but to betray her own kind in what seems to be such a ruthless manner…)

Xelaman answered him. "I honestly think her mind doesn't see it as betrayal. For those few moments when she was still a Spider, when she was not yet a human nothlit, yes, during that time she considered herself a traitor. But now that she is a human, she is completely loyal to us. To the Princess. Ironic that it is her Spider mentality that makes her so loyal a human, though."

"Whatever happened to the one traitor of ours?" Tom asked. "There was some big deal about it with the Kyan, but I didn't really pay attention."

"She was committed to the mental hospital tent," I answered. "No one really blames her, and most of the former slaves are happy about what she did, so there isn't really strong sentiment against her and that's enough to get her pardoned. We don't exactly have a strong justice system up and running yet – technically any of us could see a crime happening, kill the perpetrator and no one would question our actions."

(I don't think any one of us would do that, though, Princess.)

I shrugged. "So far we haven't had to – Amadi takes care of all Kyan crimes, I keep the Nadar running around too much for them to consider committing crimes, and so we're all nicely situated."

"Maya, we're ready for the final push," called Jenny and I signaled to the Nadar to prepare.

(Alexa,) I called, and she responded, "I'm already on it," and I looked up to see the chemical agent packed up and in her hands, ready to be dropped like a bomb on the land bridge.

"Push them towards the bridge," I called to Jenny, and the forcefields began moving, painstakingly slowly, towards the land bridge as the Spiders scrambled madly.

I held my breath as the giant mass of Spiders kept going closer and closer to the cliff edges, and then sighed when the first of them stepped onto the bridge. From there it was fairly simply to stop the fields at the edge of the land bridge as the Spiders, uneasy with being surrounded by water, hurried to the southern continent.

I looked up to see Alexa, her white wings flapping steadily as she prepared to drop the Spidersbane on the bridge. She glanced at me, and I nodded.

(Do it.)

Entranced, we all watched as the package slowly fell through the air, pulled down by the gravity that held us all together, watched as it hit the land bridge.

Everything was quiet for a moment, and then the bridge exploded into water.

How long was the land bridge? We'll never know. The chemicals in Spidersbane ran through the dirt like frenzied earthworms in a garden, and then a curtain of water went up, and then down into the ocean, only to cause the ocean water to leap up and hit the forcefields that were still on the cliffs, but no longer cutting through earth.

I don't know how long we stood there, but it was only until after Alexa came back with the report, "It's done," did we move.

"We won," I whispered, and then looked over at Tom who laughed and hugged me. I had said those words before, but what an incredibly different victory. Some of the Nadar, former slaves, were weeping as they looked out at the ocean.

"We can't even see the other continent," one of them said in awe. "They'll never be able to come after us again."

Alexa landed softly, and then took my hand. "Congratulations, Maya. You did it."

I shook my head. "No, _you _did it. Without your pushing we would have never gone to talk to His'th, and His'onta never would have come to help us, and we would have never learned about this land bridge…"

She put her finger over my lips and hugged me as well, laughing, and we all stood around in awe at our complete victory when a single Spider leg pulled up over the cliff.

We snapped back into action instantly and the aniarmies that were there shifted back into battle morphs if they weren't already in them. I ordered bird scouts out to see if there were any more Spiders other than this one hiding on the cliff face, and they came back with a negative report – only this Spider had managed to stay on this continent.

The Spider pulled himself over the cliff and I heard His'onta gasp behind me.

It was His'th.

For a long time we stood there, looking at each other, and then he sighed.

"Princess Maya, to think that when I told you of our total defeat, it would be less than three months before it happened. You won, truly and definitely. The _Spiders_," he spat the word, "will now be free to murder each other and starve to death, eating their children to survive."

"What else would you have us do, huh?" Jeremy responded. "Lie down and volunteer to be the main course for your banquets? We offered you mercy, and you refused it."

His'th ignored him and continued to focus on me. "Princess, you owe me something."

I nodded. "You will die in honor."

"I want you to be the one who executes me," His'th continued. "You have a morph of my People – morph to it and bind me in a silk cocoon and let me die in honor. There is no life for me on the other continent."

I didn't say anything, but instead morphed to Spider, feeling each change as it came along, my fangs, my eight legs, my bulbous body… some of the former slaves backed away from me, but I ignored them and continued on to His'th.

(It could be a trap, Princess,) came Xelaman's voice instantly, but I told him, (No, I know him. He admits defeat when he has lost.)

I could tell that he didn't believe me, so I continued, (Have Alexa train a dracon beam on him from up in the air so if he attacks, I won't be harmed.)

Then, I turned to face His'th, and some instinct within me stirred my body and I began producing silk, spinning it around His'th with my legs. I almost lovingly created a cocoon around him, letting myself into the mind of the His'anthrop in a way I had never done before.

When I finished, I demorphed quickly. I didn't want to turn around to face humans with live blood while still in the mindset of a Spider.

I turned around and faced the Nadar, my War Council, and the few Kyan who were with us, and looked at each of them. Some were crying, some were jubilant, but most were quiet, looking back at me and over my shoulder at the last Spider in Mayaneria.

I thought of all we had been through in the past two years, of the constant raids, of rationing out rice grains, of fighting with my War Council over the best way to kill, always the best way to kill. Of the blood and stench that hovered over Rachelarem, the burned fields and plundered trees that we had given to Somolonania. Of Yomanti, who had sacrificed not only herself, but her entire tribe, for me. Of Keav, who would die in less than a year, and Xelaman, who had become a nothlit for me because he loved me.

It was all over. There was no one left to fight anymore.

I touched my heart, not sure about what I was feeling. When was the last time I had been in a situation like this, where there was no one and nothing to fight? I had always been in some sort of struggle, either to survive, or against the Andalites, or the North Korean soldiers, or the pirates, or the other street gangs, or the bullies at school, or the Yeerks, or torture. My life had been one long string of war after war after war.

No, wait… there had been that year I spent with the dolphins. The year that I hadn't had to even worry about survival, because my pod had been with me, making sure that I would be alright.

And now… once again, I would live in peace.

"Well," I said, breaking the silence. "Let's go home."

**Author's Note**

Sorry… I know it's technically Saturday, but it's only three hours late, right? I've been crazy busy – hope you enjoy!


	19. The Kelbrid

Chapter 19: The Kelbrid

**From: Jenny (cheenet)**

**To: Maya (princess at chee dot net)**

**Re: The One has taken Aximili**

**Time: 2001 01/22/04**

**Maya,**

**The Chee that is our contact on the Blade Ship just sent in a notice to the Cheenet that Aximili has been absorbed by the One.**

**The Blade Ship is completely under the control of the One right now, and she is using it to search out for planets full of beings to absorb. Our contact told us that the One wants to find a place with a lot of creatures that she can settle down with, absorbing and rejecting as she pleases to keep her inner balance between good and evil. In short, the One is tired of wandering through space, hunting and gathering bodies a few at a time, and wants to settle down to farming them.**

**She's looking for Earth.**

**I'm sorry if this information does nothing other than frustrate you, I know that we are still planet bound and so cannot really do anything about the situation. We are still working on repairing our ships, but even after we have them restored, what exactly is it that we should do? Go after the One? She has the Blade Ship, and even if we managed to destroy it somehow with the Liberty and the Hope, we still don't know her full fighting ability or whether it is actually possible for her to die.**

**I'll leave these cheery problems to you and get back to working on fixing the ships. It is so nice to have other duties than acting as a wall around Rachelarem, you know.**

**Jenny**

I lazily tipped my head back and looked up at the bright blue sky as I drank in the peace of the last year. I could hardly believe what I had been living through, it was almost as if wartime was my constant and peacetime just a distant dream.

My mind wandered to my War Council, and stopped on Keav, who was a little bit away from me, talking to Alexa. Keav, who was supposed to die in only a few months, but only a month after we had won…

"_I've found a way for Keav to survive," Tom burst out in one of our increasingly more informal War Council gatherings. We didn't really do anything anymore in our meetings, just talked about future plans for Mayaneria, ideas about how to integrate the Nadar and the Kyan once our community got bigger. After all, our function as a War Council was pretty obsolete – we had lived the last year in complete peace._

_But Tom's proclamation got our attention._

"_How?" Keav asked sharply. It was obvious that she wasn't happy about discussing her private life in the open – she had always been rather introverted. However, any plan was welcome, no doubt._

"_Morph to something else and becoming a nothlit," Tom stated, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "That way you won't have the age suppression in your body, since you'll have a new one."_

_I blinked several times, and then smiled. "Wow, we really aren't that intelligent of a group of people, are we?"_

"_Speak for yourself." Tom grinned back. "I personally think I'm a genius."_

_But when we looked at Keav, she was skeptical. "I won't be able to morph?"_

"_You weren't able to morph until the last few years of your life, if I'm correct…" Xelaman interjected. "So why would this loss bother you now?"_

"_It's just that… if our ships never are fixed, if we're stuck on this planet for the rest of our lives, I want to be able to fly."_

_(Alexa, would it be possible if Keav morphed you, or perhaps a mixture of you and Sam in order to have natural wings? This would solve the problem of flight…)_

_Jeremy shook his head and said, "I mean, if it comes down to it though, you would become a nothlit without flight capability, wouldn't you?" at the same time that Alexa responded, "No, remember, my DNA is altered so I can't morph, and no one can acquire me."_

"_But," Alexa continued. "We could try an experiment. We could try using an animal morph – more precisely, the wings – and enlarge them, adapting the DNA to be able to lift a human body."_

"_That sounds… rather mutant-ish," I confessed. "Won't there be any side effects to that, a desire to eat whatever the bird wants to eat at times, or when the person is aged, will she still be able to fly?"_

"_I don't care," Keav broke in. "I want to do it. I want to try. Even if it kills me – I'm dead already, remember? Let me try this, Princess."_

_I hesitated, and then nodded. It wasn't right of me to trap Keav to the ground, to tie her to the earth for the rest of her life._

"_Who has the most experience with morphing?" I asked, looking at each member of my War Council. Solethi responded, (Me.)_

"_Can you take Keav and… oh, Tom, since he came up with the idea, to collect the DNA that you need and then to coach Keav through the process of mixing the two?"_

_Solethi's eyestalks indicated wryness. (I've never tried to mix an animal morph and a human morph, before, Princess… but I suppose I can try.)_

_I thanked him, and then five hours later Tom and Solethi had come back, leading a young Asian girl with dappled brown and white wings coming out of her shoulder blades._

"_I couldn't help it," the girl laughed. "I wanted to stay Asian; I've been looking at myself for almost forty years as an Asian, so I decided to use a Forsil Maneuver, mixing DNA from southeastern Asians."_

"_You look… young," commented Jeremy, as the girl who was still Keav pushed herself off the ground, her face beaming as she circled around us._

"_Her body is age seventeen," Tom told us. "She wanted a body that was as young as possible while still being as fully developed as an adult's, and seventeen sounded like a good age to choose."_

"_Wow, I must be setting a trend," Alexa laughed. "I'm seventeen forever, and then His'onta joined me, and now Keav."_

_I raised my hand. "I'm nineteen…"_

"_And we never celebrated your birthday, Princess, how could you let us forget?" Tom responded. I shook my head and laughed._

"_The last time I celebrated my birthday was… never," I told them. "I don't even know when I was born."_

"_Neither do I," Keav responded, folding her wings in. "Birthdays aren't a big deal when you're trying to survive, you know? Although, getting to stay alive, along with being able to fly, are two of the best presents I could have received."_

_She had hugged herself, and smiled at me, a rare smile that lit up her face._

"_The best present for me right now would be if our ships started working, or if a friendly alien fleet decided to land on Somolonania and lend us the use of their ships," I responded._

"_Getting antsy?" teased Xelaman, and I ruefully nodded. "I'm like a nineteen-year-old American without a driver's license – trapped at home, with no means of transportation out."_

"_You are insane," Tom told me firmly. "You're comparing driving around a town to hopping from planet to planet? I had planned to spend my entire life on one planet, and never did I ever think, oh, I have to stay on Earth my entire life, how boring."_

_(You never grew up with the knowledge of space flight, or with the idea that other planets were accessible,) Solethi reminded him. (And the only time you were in space you were there by choice. But I think if we do ever get off this planet, you will find the excitement of space travel, of seeing whole new worlds – literal whole new worlds – and being able to fly among the stars...)_

"_It sounds like you're getting antsy too," Jeremy told him, before leaning back. "Nadar aren't meant to sit around and trade stories, we need to be out and moving. Life's just too easy right now, you know?"_

_We all were laughing, mocking ourselves. How many times had we complained of our difficult lives, only now to turn around and gripe about our easy lives?_

"What are you smiling about?" Keav questioned, as she sidled over to where I was. I opened my mouth to tell, and the others who were with us, when the report came in.

"Princess, Jenny the Chee told me to tell you that we got the _Hope_ working."

Keav leaped into the air, spread out her wings, and shot away. Jeremy looked up at her already distant figure and said, "Well, she seems a tad excited."

"She's changed," Tom noted quietly. "She would have never cared so much before, but she's changed."

I smiled at him, and then touched his shoulder gently. "We've all changed."

--

"Princess, Solethi, I don't know if I'm reading this right, but currently it says that there is another sentient species on this planet, other than Vampire Spiders, humans, Ssintha, Andalite and Somolonanians."

I glanced over at Keav who was working the controls of the ship, caressing them lovingly. She was pointing at the Sentient Species box, and so I came over to look.

Keav, Solethi and I had taken the _Hope _up to orbit around Somolonania, to test it, and also to check on the geography of the planet, to see if anything had changed drastically in the past three years, or whether there were any global trends that we should be keeping track of. So far there hadn't been any, so we had turned to confirm the sentient species currently living in Somolonania.

I pushed the button on the box, and a hologram of what looked like a tawny coated lioness… with no heads, but rather, two tails from either end of the body. Next to the headless being was what looked like a large gray mass of rock.

I stared.

(Kelbrid.)

I turned to look at Solethi. "But the Kelbrid aren't allowed in Andalite space, are they?"

(We're technically not in Andalite space, Princess. I also think we are not in Kelbrid space, although we might want to check on that. You see, no Andalites are allowed in Kelbrid space, although that isn't a large problem for our community as I am the only Andalite.)

"That has to be the oddest looking alien I have ever seen," Keav commented, still examining the hologram. "First we get the Somolonanians, with two heads. And now we get the Kelbrid, with no heads."

"It means they can't be infested, at least," I offered, and then said, "Have the ship's computer point out where the Kelbrid are on the planet."

"Eastern side of Mayaneria," Keav read off the holographic globe of Somolonania. "On the mountains you visited, actually, a little over a year ago."

"Well, let's pay them a visit."

(Princess, that may not be the wisest course to take… although Andalites do not know much about the Kelbrid, we do know that they are extremely warrior-like, and so it could be dangerous.)

"They're settling in our country," Keav pointed out. "And they'll find us sooner or later. If they're here to kill us, well, it's better for us to find that out right away, so we can began preparing to fight."

"The Kyan are not going to like another war," I murmured, my mind racing. Connections, connections, think, what would Kelbrid be doing here? A warrior-like species, with their own Home World… someone attacked their world and these were the remnants?

"Do they have a ship in orbit around Somolonania?" I asked, and Keav said, "I'll have to take the _Hope _higher up to see," before gently easing the craft out of our current orbit and gliding outwards, away from the planet.

She sighed. "Oh, I've missed flying."

(There,) Solethi said, drawing my attention to a one of the largest starships I had ever seen. My eyes widened at the size of it. "That's larger than a Pool Ship…"

"So, Princess, what do we do? Go greet the Kelbrid, or go back to Rachelarem?"

"Back to Rachelarem. After seeing the size of that ship… it looks like half the Andalite population could fit in that ship. If they're here for war, it's going to be another long haul."

"But this time we have the _Hope, _and soon we'll be able to fix the _Liberty_," Keav answered. "And we won against the Spiders without either."

(The Spiders were nyashas without any technology,) Solethi reminded her. (These Kelbrid look very well prepared.)

"So what do we do once we get back?"

I looked at the hologram of the Kelbrid, still shimmering on the console, and then said lightly, "We'll send our diplomats, invite them to Mayaneria, and ask how long they plan on staying, their reason for being here, and ask to see their visas."

(What?)

Keav and I grinned, and she said, "It's a human custom, Solethi, nothing really that important."

"I think I'll have Alexa go to them," I started slowly. "Since she can't die. Although I'd like to send more of an envoy – just the right amount to not be threatening, but also to show that we won't be messed with."

(I will go,) Solethi volunteered. (If we are sending those who cannot die or are about to, I might as well.)

I rolled my eyes at him. "You can go as my senior advisor, as you are older than probably all of us put together. Also, I think that it will be more appropriate that way. The Spiders worked on a leader to leader basis, and so did the Somolonanians, but I think with a more developed society we're going to have to return to the subtleties of diplomacy. It will honor them if I send them my most senior advisor, but if I attend myself, that will seem like flattery and weakness."

(You're thinking like a human,) Solethi responded. (Who knows how these Kelbrid operate? You're probably right, of course, from what I know of the Kelbrid they operate in a similar manner to Andalites. But at the same time, be careful not to make any deadly assumptions, Princess.)

I nodded. "Point taken. Keav, take us back down."

I allowed myself a smile as a sharp sliver of excitement went through me. A year ago it would have been at the thought of war – now it was at the thought of meeting this new species and hopefully, hopefully allying ourselves to make Mayaneria stronger.

It was at the thought of finally beginning my army of Nadar, an army that would be strong enough to withstand anything and to take anyone under our protection.

My thoughts drifted back to when I had been an eight-year-old Elemaki slave, how I had so excitedly grasped the idea of a Nadar army, fighting for the freedom of their People. How on Earth, during my free periods at school, I had outlined a system of government that would allow the Kyan and Nadar to live together.

This is what I was born for, I said silently as we came closer to the blue green planet that looked so much like Earth, so much like the Andalite Home World. To make this army. To build this empire. To welcome all creatures, all species, everyone – to give the universe, Nadar or Kyan, a chance to become one People – a chance to become of the Mayanites.

**Author's Note**

Sorry that this one was late, I've been crazy busy. College is awesome though, having a lot of fun, hope this chapter is fun as well!


	20. Master Brain of the Nadar

Chapter 20: Master Brain of the Nadar

**Posted on Relations with the Kelbrid Forum by AristhTom at chee dot net**

**Topic: Since my new position seems to be entertainment monkey of the Kelbrid…**

**Time: 0956 02/30/04**

**I'm here to lodge a formal (okay, so it's really not that formal) complaint about my demotion. So yes, the Kelbrid like me, but does this really mean that I have to sit there next to them all day and listen to them talk and talk to me about what a strange alien I am, and how foolish it is to carry my brain around in my body?**

**Reply 12, by AristhJeremy at chee dot net**

**Quit whining and consider yourself lucky. I'm stuck in Rachelarem, babysitting children.**

**Reply 12.1, by Biolexa at chee dot net**

**Both of you need to grow up.**

**Reply 12.2, by AristhJeremy at chee dot net**

**That's easy for _you_ to say. In fact, you're currently in the middle of all the diplomatic action, flying back and forth from the mountains which you've so fondly termed Kelbridarem, and rushing in to alert Maya of some new development before taking off to inspect the training troops, and then running by the ships and what more, weapons testing center. There is no justice when a winged pacifist (instead of me) gets to test the latest and greatest weapons systems of an alien species that is far more advanced than any we've seen so far, even if they were kicked out of their Home World.**

**Reply 12.3, by Biolexa at chee dot net**

**They weren't kicked out, they left. The ones we have with us are the smart ones, and fortunately, they're more than willing to become Mayanite citizens and enter the Nadar Army, whose first mission is actually coming up rather quickly.**

**Reply 12.4, by AristhJeremy at chee dot net**

**Yes, yes, everyone but me is going to the Andalite Home World and filling the Kelbrid's much too large ship with Elemaki and transporting them all here. Have fun trying to shoot Andalites and missing all of them. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a four-year-old who is waiting for me to read her a bedtime story.**

I stood patiently next to Uaoye, and waited for him to settle down into the mountain rock. His large gray bulk inched around the dusty surface, reminding me of a fat cat squirming in an over plump armchair.

Uaoye's body was next to me, its two tails quivering like antennae, which was actually probably the most accurate description of them. It was only after Uaoye stopped moving did his body reach out the two tails to me, one for each ear.

I knelt, careful not to dislodge the tails, and then thought to Uaoye, _I hope you are doing well._

_I am well enough, Master Brain, _Uaoye responded. _I understand that you have certain questions for me._

_Yes, _I said, trying to keep myself from using thought-speech but rather thinking my own private thoughts at the two furry tails in my ears. _You see, I wished to learn a little more of your history, of where you are from, and why you left there._

I could hear Uaoye sigh through his body. _Well, I will tell you, Master Brain to Master Brain. However, I am equally curious to learn more about you, and your kind. One of your Arisths, Tom, I believe his name is, has been so kind and attentive to us, and has explained some about you, but I would still like to know more, as we are going to be living here from now on._

_Of course, _I reassured him. _Now, if I may... please, tell me where you are from._

_It all started when we began to adapt harmful eating habits, _Uaoye began. _You see, we of the brains feed off of an element, called A, that was found in the mountains that covered our Home World. We find a place to live, and stay there for the rest of our lives, rarely moving, simply sending our bodies out to communicate with others, to fight our wars off planet, to do what bodies do._

_Go on, _I encouraged, fascinated already.

_There are two ways to take in the element A, Master Brain. One way is nourishing, the other is a stimulus. When taken as a stimulus, however, the element is called A'. Brains who absorb A' are given a short rush of fierce warlust, which is very useful when fighting battles. It is not uncommon for brains to take A' before launching our bodies onto ships._

_But slowly, we began to discover that if we fed on A' too much, we would become addicted, and then if we were unable to control the addiction, we would die. The intake of A' also slowly chipped away at the mountains, harming the mountainside as well as ourselves._

_Some of us stopped, and decided to only take in the element as A, in order to preserve our mountain for our future children, and in short, to keep from dying. However, we found that we could not hold our own in planet battle against the A' brains, and so we left our Home World, taking with us reserves of A. We have been searching for quite some time, Master Brain, but finally we found that the element was in these mountains, and so we landed._

_Did you know we were here? _I asked him, curious as to when they had first come to Somolonania.

_We knew that there were other sentients down in the valley, but beyond that we knew nothing. You were warring, and I thought that perhaps you would not appreciate our intrusion, and if you were as fierce as the brains on A', we could not afford a confrontation which could lead to the loss of our only chance at steady nourishment._

So they had been here for a long time, then, a year at least. I had visited this mountain after going through the Tellak induced nightmare of a future, and that had been a little over a year ago. Then again, I might have just not noticed that the Kelbrid were here, they fit into the environment very nicely.

_Thank you, _I told Uaoye. _You do not need to fear that we will evict you – our only wish is that you stay with us as Mayanites, that you take our Home World as yours._

_You are more than gracious, _Uaoye responded. _Now, if I may ask you some questions… you see, I am most interested in you, Master Brain. Among the Kelbrid we elect each brain to act as Master Brain for a certain set period of time, and then that brain steps down for the next election. However, you do not seem to be stepping down anytime soon…could you perhaps explain why you have been appointed Master Brain for what seems like an indefinite period?_

_Well,_ I said, thinking. How could I explain the loyalty that I had earned, the horrors that we had gone through together, and how I came to be so far away from the planet of my birth? It was almost too much history to condense, and yet, I knew that Uaoye deserved to hear it. He had arranged to place all of the Kelbrid under my command in the Nadar Army, and had asked only that they would never be required to leave – which we made official by granting them Mayanite citizenship.

I closed my eyes, and then smiled, thinking about who I had been, and the path I had taken to be kneeling on the rock of a new planet with an alien's furry antennae in my ears, listening to my thoughts. Taking a deep breath, I began.

_I think I should start at the very beginning, with a young Elemaki girl named Saranai on the Andalite Home World…_

--

"Ready, Princess?"

I shook my head violently. "No. I'll never be ready for this mission."

The white of Z-space surrounded us, and Keav was waiting for me to give permission to jump back out into regular space.

From there we would proceed to the Andalite Home World.

(Princess?)

I closed my eyes, and for one moment held the image of the planet that I had spent the first eight years of my life on in my mind. No, wait, that wasn't the right image. I shifted to the fields of blue green grass, and Osgaron and I running clumsily through them, with Mamai leading us, always encouraging us onwards.

And then the fire, burning her up, and Osgaron – you were so young, my brother! – floating dead in the sea…_We'll make Mamai proud_, he said. Except she was gone, and so was he and I was the only one left.

So I have to make both of you proud.

My own words of so many lifetimes ago echoed back at me, and then I opened my eyes, smiling grimly. That had been my one constant throughout my entire life, always lying underneath the surface. So far I hadn't been that successful in being anything to be proud of, but now, now, I would come as a conquering War Princess, and all Andalites would bow their eyestalks before me or die.

I banished the thought immediately. I wasn't a child anymore, eager for petty revenge or one to hold children responsible for the sins of their ancestors. If all went well in this mission, the Andalites wouldn't even know we had visited them.

My blue eyes shining, I turned to Keav. "Let's do it."

I could feel Solethi tighten besides me, and I turned to him, and held out a fist. Surprised, he glanced at it with one stalk eye, and then shot out a blue fist as well, touching mine.

(For the Elemaki.)

I nodded, and then waited with baited breath as the huge Kelbrid ship slowly entered the atmosphere, cloaked in technology that the Andalites had yet to dream of.

Alright, it was scary, I'll admit it. I hadn't even dreamed that I would be returning to this planet any time soon, although I had had vague imaginations of coming in with a Nadar Army at my back, storming into the Head Dome and demanding that all Andalites perform obeisance.

It was still a little difficult for me to forgive them all.

And then we touched down on the Island.

A Kelbrid tail found my ear and reported, _We are still cloaked, and invisible to all._

_Thank you, _I said, thinking of his brain, still back in Somolonania, and then I announced, "I'm going out."

A hatch door opened, and obligingly, I stepped out. Solethi was right behind me, and Xelaman as well.

We had landed in the center of a plain, away from the rocks by the sea. There was a forested glade nearby, but I only had eyes for the hideouts, which I scanned for among the tall grass.

(I never thought I would taste this flavor of grass again,) Solethi breathed on the other side of me, and I glanced at him as he took a few steps forward, all four eyes soaking in the sight. (I always loved the grass on the Island, even though I only ever visited a few times.)

"I wish I could try it as well," Xelaman said, his voice holding a note of regret. He lifted his feet out of his shoes and stepped forward in bare feet, as if trying to convince his human hoofs to take in the nutrients of the grass.

"Solethi, will they know you?" I asked, and he shook his head. (Princess, it's been many, many years since I was last involved with the underground Elemaki transportation.)

I nodded, accepting that, and then began morphing to Elemaki, feeling my body fall forward, and then catch itself on two slender legs protruding out from my chest. My torso straightened up, and my arms became weaker as I suddenly gained 360 degree vision. The last change to come was the blue fur that rippled over me like moss, and then my tail thrust outwards, my tail blade glinting.

(My name is Mayanamar-Semitur-Aventa,) I called out boldly, in open thought speech. I knew that we were close enough to the hideouts for any Elemaki to hear me. (I am now War Princess Maya of the Nadar, and I am here to offer any of you safe passage to another planet where you will be free.)

There. If they didn't trust me about the offer to Somolonania, at least some would be piqued by my name, since it shared the same name as Alloran, the Abomination.

(They will wonder why you, an Elemaki, has three names,) Xelaman told me privately, and I responded, (I wondered why, myself.)

We waited there, by the side of the invisible ship, my eyes straining to see whether anybody was there. No one. I gave them a little more time, a little more time, and then finally decided to pull back inside the Kelbrid's ship when Solethi urgently called, (Princess, look!)

A single Elemaki male, a little younger than Solethi, was making his way towards me, with a young Elemaki female about my age clutching his hand.

They stopped a few lengths away from me, and we looked at each other, my eye stalks hungrily searching their faces for details, when I noticed something…

Osgaron's eye stalks had always been rather peculiarly angled – not by accident, it was just the way he had been born. Mamai had teased him gently, telling him that her Papai had also had the same eye stalks, and so had her younger brother…

The Elemaki male had the same angled eyestalks as Osgaron.

(Daughter of Saranai,) he called to me. (Is it you?)

I barely managed to nod, and then remembered that he wouldn't know what that meant and so responded, (Yes. I have returned.)

Suddenly he left who had to be his daughter, and came galloping towards me, reaching with his arm to trace his hand down my cheek in a kiss. Tentatively, I returned the kiss, seeing Osgaron before me when I had kissed him as a timid Elemaki child before I whispered, (You have my brother's eyestalks.)

(I thought Saranai had died,) he responded. (Your mother – is she here with you?)

I shook my head, and then at his puzzled response said, (No… she died many years ago, when my brother and I were three. Only I survived.)

He clasped my shoulder and then turned an eyestalk back to the female who was still standing there. (Sowdamini, come, meet your cousin.)

I felt something surge upwards in me, a rush of surprise and hope mingled in a wave of emotion. My cousin… then he must be my uncle… I had family who were still alive…

(Uncle,) I managed, and then I remembered his name. (Uncle Yomanti.)

(Did any of the other females survive?) Yomanti asked me as Sowdamini came trotting up. (None of my brothers, or Papai did – I saw them all die. Tell me, did any of my other sisters or Mamai live?)

(No,) I responded. (It was only my Mamai.)

Yomanti sagged for a moment, and then reached out a hand to Sowdamini and pulled her in closely. I flicked both my eyestalks to look at her, and had to gasp.

(I knew your mother,) I said, remembering Kyrani on the moon base. (You are just as beautiful as she was.)

She bowed her eyestalks shyly, not saying anything, and then her father, asked, (Is it true that you have come to take us away from this place?)

Regretting my tactlessness, I dropped the subject and instead nodded. (Yes. My Home World is a place of many plains, where you can graze freely without fear of any raids. I welcome you.)

I looked up with one eyestalk, and saw that there were more Elemaki gathering around, either out of curiosity or the belief that if Yomanti and Sowdamini were talking to me, I must be trustworthy. I smiled at them as kindly as I could, and extended the range of my thought speech. (You all are welcome. Every single one of you. I promise you a land of freedom, where you can raise your children free from fear, where the grass is good to graze and where there are no soldiers to burn the fields.)

Their faces were untrusting, but I could tell that they felt that they had no choice. It had been almost half a century since the genocide had been officially started, and the clock was ticking down the years.

And then the alarms began running.

The Elemaki in front of me began racing backwards, when Solethi cried out, (No, no, come into our ship! The Andalites know of your hideouts, they will find out!)

Precious seconds passed as most Elemaki chose to listen and came closer to us, and while others ignored him, diving away. Hurriedly, I ordered all the hatches on our side to be opened and then Elemaki began pouring into the Kelbrid ship.

I helped Sowdamini through, but was surprised when she shook me off her, but when she pointed out at the plains at her father who was urging Elemaki towards the ship, I understood.

Springing away from the craft, I used all the speed I could muster to reach him, when the whine of the hovercrafts started up above us. It was as if I were eight all over again, panicked and clinging onto Saraswati as she pulled me towards the hideouts and I only kept one thought in mind. I cannot let Yomanti die. I cannot let the only other being alive who knew my Mamai die.

Determination lent my hooves speed, and grimly, I shot forward, calling out, (Uncle,) the word unfamiliar in my mind. (You must come… the Andalites…)

A beam grazed by me as I threw myself to one side. Irritated at how close it had been, I pulled out a shredder, and took careful aim at the hovercraft's main blasters.

I missed the first time, but hit them the second, and then continued to gallop towards the still hesitating Elemaki.

(Princess, the Andalites are landing!) Solethi called from behind me, and I whipped an eyestalk around to see hovercrafts descending.

(Since when do Andalites land on the Island?) I questioned, readying my tail blade to fight. Solethi answered carefully. (I think since the Elemaki began shooting back.)

Wonderful.

I had reached Yomanti at that point, and he also, was readying himself to fight the Andalites. Solethi reached us as well, and the three of us stood as the unlikeliest trio on the Andalite Home World: one Elemaki male, one Andalite male, and one half breed of a female.

(Xelaman, go tell Keav to get ready to take off,) I ordered. At the sight of the Andalites landing the remaining Elemaki had decided that our ship was a better refuge than Andalite tail blades, and so soon we were alone on a field facing the warriors.

(Why do they hate us?) I asked Solethi and Yomanti suddenly. (Why do they hate the Elemaki?)

(You don't know?) Yomanti responded in surprise. (The Elemaki used to rule the Andalites, stressing their bloodline as superior since they claimed to be sired by one of the gods. In ancient times the Elemaki were just rulers, but as they depended more and more on their blood to distinguish them, they became corrupt and cruel. When the Andalite majority overthrew the Elemaki ruling class, their claim to a pure bloodline destroyed them, and now any creature with Elemaki blood is viewed with suspicion and hate.)

(Then we deserve this,) I answered flatly, still watching the Andalite warriors advance, but Solethi contradicted me. (No, the Elemaki of those times were harsh rulers, but their actions have nothing to do with you, or any of the Elemaki now. It is just that those times were filled with horror and blood, and so now even the possibility of the Elemaki returning to power evokes horrible family memories.)

(I must be their worst nightmare,) I responded. (An Elemaki, and a Nadar War Princess, and with a vendetta against the Andalites.)

There was no time for them to respond, because then the Andalites were on us.

My tail blade flashed as it cut through the air, as I spun and shot with my shredder, dancing on all four hooves. Solethi and Yomanti were on either side of me, using their heavier bodies to grapple with the soldiers, and the three of us fought, giving the ship behind us a chance to lift off.

(Princess, we're ready to go.) Xelaman's voice came suddenly, through the fighting. (But we're not leaving without you.)

(Come,) I told Solethi and Yomanti, ducking a tail blade as it sliced through the air next to my head. (It's time to go.)

I used my shredder to stop someone from decapitating Yomanti, and then he and Solethi exchanged a look with one stalk eye each, and I knew what they were planning.

(No, I forbid it,) I cried out, spinning backwards. (Yomanti, Solethi, I forbid it.)

(This is what I was born for,) Solethi responded grimly, his eyes beginning to flash like Rachel's had. (To die for the Elemaki, to go down fighting. Don't ask me to stay.)

(Daughter of Saranai,) Yomanti told me. (Take care of my child.)

And with those words they hurtled forward, using their bodies to thrust aside the Andalites, and then using their tail blades to cut their way through. I tried to follow, but then I found strong, dark arms circling my waist, tugging me backwards.

I fought Xelaman, pleading with him, even threatening him with my tail blade, but he pulled my reluctant body backwards even as I watched Solethi and Yomanti take on the entire Andalite contingent.

We were barely inside the ship when Keav took off, maneuvering the giant vessel with only a Kelbrid by her side. I could see her mask of concentration from where I stood, as she worked with the ship, coaxing as much speed out of it as possible.

And I thought of Yomanti, my mother's brother, and Solethi, who had been like my father, fighting together to give us the time to escape, and smiled crookedly. It was the death that they would have chosen, the death they had chosen and I knew they would die in honor.

A soft shuffling sound distracted me, and I turned to face Sowdamini, whose face was full of quiet anguish. I reached out for her, and held her against me as she shuddered, but she still did not speak.

(You're all I have now,) I whispered to her. (My only family.)

(You're all I have,) she responded, even more softly. (Don't… don't leave me.)

I held her, and promised her I never would.

**Author's Note**

And that is a supersized chapter, over eleven pages long. I've decided to set another policy for myself – every chapter from now on (except for special ones that are much shorter for effect) is going to at least hit the ten page mark. Enjoy!


	21. After Three Years

Chapter 21: After Three Years

**From: The Kelbrid (masterbrain at chee dot net)**

**To: Maya (princess at chee dot net)**

**Re: The Animorphs have been sighted**

**Time: 1534 06/05/04**

**Master Brain, this is Master Brain Uoaye speaking to you from the communal address of the Kelbrid. Our scouts have been all over this quadrant of the universe, diligently acting as vigilantes in search of the One. One of them reported that a Yeerk vessel was sighted.**

**As Jenny the Chee informed us, the Animorphs were sent from Earth to find Aximili and free him from the One nearly six months ago. The Yeerk vessel that was sighted matches the description of the ship that the Animorphs used.**

**They are being followed currently, at my orders, and I decided to contact you immediately about this information and to wait for further instructions as I understand that these Animorphs are of some importance to you. Would you like to take a transport vessel to the ship that is tracking them?**

There it was.

I was at the helm of the _A, _the large Kelbrid ship that Keav, Solethi and I had first seen in orbit six months ago. It was cloaked, as usual, and there were fighters in its hold, ready to be deployed in the case that the Blade Ship on the far side of the _A _showed any signs of aggression.

But my eyes were only for the sleek Yeerk craft that was in front of us, ignorant of our presence.

"Princess?" His'onta called from behind me. I barely managed to tear my eyes away from the craft, and when I turned, I bumped into Tom who was next to me, his focus also on the ship that held the Animorphs.

"What is it?" I asked her. She had taken the place of Solethi on my War Council, but there couldn't be any two beings more different. Solethi's advice had always been to err on the side of reason, almost as if to make up for his passionate moments of Nadar rage.

His'onta, on the other hand, was quirky, young, and bossy. She showed hesitation at times, but when the moment called for it, she was officious and demanding, reveling in the security that she would not be eaten for a mistake.

"The Animorphs have opened communications with the Blade Ship according to the Chee on it," she told me, shaking loose strands of black hair away from her face that was the unique mixture of an Indian male, an American Indian young mother, and a Hispanic teenage girl.

"Can we hack into them?" Tom asked suddenly, still standing at the helm. His'onta shook her head. "No, we would probably trip some alarm and alert the One to our presence. We'll have to wait and see what Jenny hears from her Chee contact. Wait, hold on a second."

She turned away, communicating with someone with thought-speech, and I went back to join Tom. Their ship, the _Rachel, _quivered in the air, sleek and deadly, just like the girl she was named for.

"Tom," I said, not moving my face to look at him. "When the Kelbrid came, and you could go home, why didn't you?"

"Princess, I am home."

I nodded at his answer, crisp like a soldier's. I could trust Tom to be loyal to me, even at the cost of not seeing his family, of not alerting them to the fact that he was in actuality, alive… I had asked Jenny if she could inform the Chee on Earth of our situation, but she had been unable to.

"The Chee on Earth cut off from their communications all of us who left," she had explained. "They really didn't approve of us chasing after a Nadar Princess. So, we can still listen in to what is on the general Chee net, since we didn't cut them off, but they don't see or hear anything we post. The five of us rebels use a different net than the main one to communicate with each other."

But what struck me was that _I _had asked. I had asked, on Tom's behalf, because he refused to.

"Don't punish Jake," I said suddenly, and Tom answered in his soldier's voice, "Yes, Princess."

I bowed my head, still keeping my eyes on the _Rachel. _It was as if Tom had answered, yes, I will punish him, by being first a soldier in the Nadar Army. For that was what Jake had done, wasn't it? He had put being a soldier in his Earth Liberation Army before being Tom's brother.

I also knew, however, that Tom was terrified, and was hiding from his fear by becoming only the soldier.

"Princess, we need to open communications with the Animorphs," His'onta said, the urgency clear in her voice. "Jenny just received word that Jake ordered their pilot to ram the Blade Ship."

So, Jake hadn't been ruined by the war, he was still his instinctive self…

"Deploy the fighters," I snapped. "Attack the Blade Ship. I want them to keep their cloaking devices on at all times, repeat, the Blade Ship is to never know who attacked them. Computer, open communications."

I heard Tom swiftly backing out of sight, and then I steadied myself. It had been three years since I had seen any of their faces, no wonder my hand trembled just the slightest bit.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

It was Jake. His face just the slightest bit irritated, the way it was when he had made up his mind about something, and something had interrupted his plans. I started to speak, but before I could, his eyes widened.

"Maya?"

There was a flurry of activity, and Marco's face showed up on the screen, his eyes opening in surprise as well. "No, it's Maya with her hair dyed black and blue contact lenses."

I grinned. I couldn't help it, hearing the incredulity mixed with his easy sarcasm, and then I told them, "I wouldn't ram the Blade Ship, if I were you. The impact would probably kill you all."

"How did you know that we were going to…" Jake began, his face instantly suspicious, and I interrupted. "We have a Chee contact on the Blade Ship, who relayed to us everything that you told the One during communications."

(Maya? You're alive…? How?)

Tobias, his hawk form showing through the screen, those fierce eyes that still mourned for Rachel.

"It's a long story," I told them. "But you're welcome to hear it, once you're on board. My fighters are busy right now, engaging the One by attacking the Blade Ship, giving you time to escape to us."

"Where's your ship?" asked Marco. "I don't see it, and Menderash here tells me that you're not appearing on any of our scanners. Maya, if you really are Maya, you have some explaining to do before we come on board."

Impatiently I waved my hand at him, and retorted, "You know, the nice thing about having fighters and warriors and a much larger ship at my command is that I don't really need to earn your trust, I can just make you come here and save a lot of time and our fighters."

"That's Maya," another voice said in the back, and then Oscar pushed forward. "That's Maya. Only she would say something like that."

"Or she's infested," countered Jake, but I wasn't listening to him. Oscar was alive? He survived?

"Who else?" I blurted out. "Oscar, who else made it?"

"Little Anna, and me. That was it."

"Maya… please. I want to trust you. I would rather not continue ramming this Blade Ship, especially since it seems like something – your fighters, I guess – are attacking it for us. But we need something more before we come on."

Jake again, calmly rational even while facing someone who was supposed to be dead. I nodded, and started to speak when a shot from the Blade Ship went out, hitting one of their engines. The communications faltered for a moment, and I said urgently, "If you don't come on board, _now,_ the Blade Ship is going to fire on you again, since your ship is the only one it can see on its scanners. You can't flee, and ramming it won't work now since the Blade Ship is ready to fire, so you're only choice is to come to me."

"Okay, I like that idea," Marco interjected. "You know, the whole let's not die option really appeals to me a lot. What do you say, Jake?"

Jake's face was calculating, but then he nodded. "She's right. We don't have any choice but to trust her."

Jake then turned to face me. "But if you're a Yeerk, then know that you'll be the first to die when we board. Now get rid of your cloaking so we can see where to go."

I signaled to Tom, and he unveiled us so we would show up on a few scanners. "I'll be the only one at the hold to greet you," I added to the Animorphs, whose stunned looks at the size of our ship filled our screen. "No one else will be there, and I'll be there unarmed. Hurry, or the Blade Ship will turn on us."

I closed communications and then pulled out my shredder, handing it to Tom before asking him, "Do you want to come down?"

"No, Princess. I will be here, at my station."

I nodded, and then passed His'onta who was shouting orders at the weapons crew on board, telling them to get ready to fire on the Blade Ship with maximum force. "Provide a distraction for our fighters; they're getting massacred out there!"

Normally I would be at the control room, watching a holographic model of the battle, giving out tactical orders, but Xelaman was there for me as we all knew that the Animorphs wouldn't trust anyone but me. Keav was in a fighter, leading the attack outside, and Jeremy was manning the weapons on the _A _herself.

My job was to be doorkeeper.

They were already out of the _Rachel _by the time I arrived, warily glancing around the empty hold. They had their weapons out, and although they weren't in battle morph, it looked like they were ready to morph into anything fierce at a moment's notice.

I stepped forward, and they all turned to look at me. I lifted my arms and showed them I was unarmed, before continuing to come closer.

"Maya…" Jake breathed. "We thought you were dead."

I shook my head. "They made me their prisoner, and after a month, I escaped when Jenny the Chee and other creatures she had picked up helped free me. We landed on a planet, and then got marooned there for the last three years after our ships were smashed up."

"And you became owner of this freakishly large ship, how?" Marco asked, raising an eyebrow, as if he still wasn't sure that I was really alive.

"The Kelbrid contacted us," I told them. "About six months ago. It's technically their ship, but they agreed to join my army and become citizens of my country, so now it's my ship."

"Your army?" one of the new humans questioned suddenly, his voice sharp. "You have an army?"

I smiled. "Yes. A Nadar Army, in fact."

"Wait a second…" Marco questioned. "You have a country? Of your own? You're like, queen of it?"

"No," I corrected. "I am the War Princess of the Nadar, and we are based on the planet Somolonania. The country that the base is in is where the Kyan live, whom we protect."

There. Let them chew on that.

Abruptly, Oscar stepped over to me, and placed himself right in front of me. "Princess, I am yours to command," he said, his voice quiet, but firm. I gazed at him, and then nodded, before reaching out a hand to place on his shoulder.

Then he was in my arms, my baby brother who I had named in the pearl filled seas, the little boy who had followed me from across the ocean, who had grown up besides me, who had fought in the last stages of the Animorph War, who had survived everything just to be by my side.

I turned to face the others, my arm over Oscar's shoulders as I held him closely, gauging their reactions. Jake looked as if he had expected this, Marco's head was tilted in surprise, Tobias, well he was still a hawk. The one human who had questioned me about my army looked on in clear disapproval, and the other two there, one male and one female, had confused expressions on their faces.

(Your eyes,) Tobias broke in suddenly. (Your eyes. They're Rachel's.)

"Yes," I answered. "When I created this new body through another Forsil Maneuver, I used her eyes. I wanted others to see the fire that was in them."

(Rachel… isn't here, then?)

I shook my head, and then added, "But Tom is."

Jake froze, and half turned his face towards me, his mouth slightly open as if he were trying to say something. He swallowed, and then managed, "Tom… is alive? But…"

For a second I thought about telling them that I had revived him, but then I decided to hold onto that fact until later. I didn't want their accusing eyes, telling me that because of me Rachel had died for vain. Even after talking to Xelaman, it was still too painful to face.

"That's a long story, too," I said instead. "If you will come up to the communications room, he's there. You can leave your craft here, I'll have someone attend to it."

Jake nodded, and then said, "Oh, and Maya, I should introduce you to the rest of my crew. This is Menderash… he was Ax's First Officer on the _Intrepid. _He came with us to pilot the _Rachel_, which is our ship. And this is Sergeant Santorelli, and this is Jeanne Gerard, both morphables. They're from a training camp that I ran back on Earth to fight against anti-alien terrorists."

"Sounds like you've been busy," I commented, but he shook his head and Marco responded, "Sounds like you've been even busier. All I had to worry about on Earth was running my own TV show, being a millionaire, you know, the usual gigs, and you've been…"

"Well, after we were marooned we spent the next two years locked in a war against blood sucking Vampire Spiders who wanted to eat us."

"Ah." Marco blinked at me.

I glanced at Jake, who looked like he was having trouble controlling himself from bowling past me to see his brother, and so turned away, saying, "Well, then follow me."

"Hey, Maya," Marco called after me, and I turned back, my gaze questioning. "I… I think I speak for all of us when I say that… it's really good to see you."

I smiled at him, thanking him silently, and responded, "It's good to see all of you, too."

A Kelbrid sauntered across our path, and then saluted me awkwardly with a single furry antenna before coming closer to place it in my ear. _Master Brain, His'onta sent me to tell you that she is ordering all fighters to find their way into Z-space by themselves, and that we will pick them up at our rendezvous spot._

_Are we in Z-space already? _I asked, surprised at the fact that the battle was already over.

_Yes, _the Kelbrid responded. _Tom detected a massive build up of energy coming from the Blade Ship, and thought it best to leave before it hit us._

I thanked the Kelbrid, and then it scurried off.

"What. The hell. Was that." Marco asked. "This… headless cat sticks its tail into your ear, and you let it?"

"Kelbrid," the one called Menderash responded. "That was a Kelbrid."

I opened my mouth to explain how the Kelbrid worked, but by then we had arrived to the communications room, with Tom and His'onta discussing something in the center of it. They looked up when the eight of us walked in, and Tom instantly stiffened.

"Tom," whispered Jake, almost helplessly, but Tom ignored him, and turned to me. "Princess, our fighters are making their way to Z-space on their own, and will report as soon as possible."

I didn't reply, but instead told Tom, (He's your brother.)

"Why?" Tom asked fiercely, still looking at me. "Why did you do it?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I… don't even know anymore, it was three years ago…"

"I was right there, all those years, across _the hall_ and you never even tried. You left me with them."

Tom's accusations were like punishing blows, each one accurate and intended to cause maximum pain. I could see Jake shudder underneath them, and then I gave everyone else a thought speech order to leave.

It was just me, Tom and Jake.

"It was the Princess who saved me," continued Tom, still refusing to look at Jake. "It's the Princess I follow now."

Jake looked at me, and then down at the floor, and I wanted to reach out to him, but at the same time, I understood Tom. I had never liked Jake's policy of leaving his brother to the clutches of the Yeerks, and I had questioned it several times. You don't leave your family in slavery, no matter what.

"Mom and Dad," Jake began. "Will be happy to know that you're alive."

For some reason, those simple words, stated so matter-of-factly, broke Tom, and he began shedding tears. For the first time since Jake had walked into the room, Tom turned to face him.

"Jake," he said as he stepped forward. "Jake. Brother…"

Quietly, I left the room.

Outside, His'onta was handing out tracking bracelets to everyone, explaining about meal times, where they would sleep, and who they would be answering to. When I came out, everyone was silent, and then Tobias asked, (Are they killing each other inside there?)

I shook my head, and the tension dissipated.

"Well," Marco said into the quiet. "So, your charming officer here has been telling us exactly how we'll be living our lives from now on." His'onta gave him a Look. "But I'm still not sure exactly what we're going to be doing in the meantime."

"That's because your mental capabilities are lacking," the one called Jeanne answered immediately, in accented English. "We're going to be doing what we came to do – fight the One."

Marco winced, and turned to me. "Why is it that all the beautiful ones are so… cruel?"

"Because we can afford to be," answered Jeanne sweetly, with a smile while Marco groaned.

I grinned, but quickly became serious. "This war isn't going to be easy," I told them honestly. "We don't know much about the One, anything about what she's been doing for the last three years, but we can be pretty sure that she wasn't just sitting there waiting for us to grow stronger. We know that she's looking for Earth, and that she's hungry, persistent, and more powerful than any other sentient being we've met."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Marco never had let anyone say anything without adding in a sarcastic comment. "I've always loved the fact that my life seems to be one long death wish."

His'onta once again gave him a Look.

I turned to face Tobias, his angry eyes still burning. Yes. We would fight the One. For Aximili. In Rachel's memory.

"Let's do it."

**Author's Note**

Many apologies for the late update, but at least this is over ten pages again!


	22. Cheating with Time

Chapter 22: Cheating with Time

**From: Jake (animorphjake at chee dot net)**

**To: Cassie (animorphscassie at chee dot net)**

**Re: I miss you already.**

**Time: 0324 02/14/09**

**Cassie,**

**I got your email yesterday right after I came back from a battle, and you have no idea how glad I was to get it. Just being able to hold onto things from Earth makes life out here in space that much easier.**

**It's crazy to think that I've been out here for the past five years, isn't it? I mean, I talk to you through holo devices all the time so it feels like you're practically here with me, but I haven't been to Earth since we left it to search for Ax.**

**I know you're probably feeling left out since all of us are here and you're still on Earth, but Cassie, please don't ever leave. Like I told you this morning on the hologram, I need you to be there, to be there when I come back.**

**I'm heading out to another battle today – the One really doesn't make things easy for us, although we're gaining the upper hand. This war is so different from the Animorph War, though, it's almost strange. I'm never in any actual danger, and I don't need to morph at all. It's me, in the control room of a ship, watching a holographic model of the battle outside. I give orders to the fighters through a speaking device, and then the fighters carry them out right in front of me. It's almost like a really advanced video game, except the stakes are deadly.**

**I have to go now, so I'll send this and talk to you tomorrow morning. Still missing you…**

**Jake**

Steeling myself, I gave the order to open communications with the Blade Ship, and then leaned back to adopt an air of casual nonchalance. Soon enough, the visage of Ax, with his grotesque mouth, appeared on screen.

"What is it?" the One purred, eyes glinting. "Come to surrender?"

"Hardly," I scoffed. "No, I am here to point out to you that you are about to crushed, and that we are willing to accept terms for peace."

The One spat at me, and I would have shuddered if I hadn't been me. Whenever I contacted the One she always used Ax's face, knowing it was the best way to unnerve me.

"Look at the situation," I continued. "The forces you've marshaled are being repeatedly wiped out by mine. You can take your soldiers and force them to conform to your will, and yes, they will be absolutely obedient. But now you have to provide them with a will, and it's taxing your energy. Your only choice is to surrender."

Half of it was bluff, but half of it was true. We had learned over the last five years that the One could not only absorb people into her body, she could also take control of the minds of the people around her. Not in the way that a Yeerk took control of a host, but by erasing the will of the person until he was simply an extension of her being.

This gave her an extreme advantage over us – her soldiers were as fearless as ours, and more reckless with their lives. However, we had tactics on our side, and were evenly numbered.

The One spat again, and then called my bluff. "Nadar Princess, do you mean to insult me? You forget that I can drag this war on as long as I like, until you grow old and gray. But I will still be young and still be hungry. I will keep this war going as long as it takes to win, and your children's children will still be fighting me."

And that was the other major advantage the One had.

With that, she cut off communications, and I glared angrily at the empty screen.

(She's right, you know,) came Keav's voice. Keav was on one of our needlepoint fighters called the _Winged,_ hovering to the side of my scout ship. Every scout ship traveled with two needlepoint fighters whenever the ship needed to go into possible danger, and the communications were all connected so that the fighters would see and hear everything the scout ship patched to, and vice versa.

(About what?) I responded, keeping an eye on the Blade Ship that was still in front of us.

(You'll never win this way. She'll always recruit more and more soldiers, and you won't be able to keep up. She might not ever win, either, but she has all the time in the world. You don't.)

(What are you planning, Keav?) I asked warily, the excited tone in her voice warning me that something was up. (Keav…)

(The One is like Alexa, and this war is like someone using Alexa for target practice,) Keav returned fiercely. (Sure, we can hurt her over and over again, but she'll always come back.)

For a moment Keav went silent, and I figured she was dealing with Alexa's protests. The needlepoint fighters always had a crew of two, and Keav and Alexa tended to pair up together, causing Marco to spout endless jokes about how wonderful winged women were.

"Keav is right," Jeremy spoke up from the side. Keav had been using open thought speech, but the range was only just enough to cover our scout ship. "We're going to spend the rest of our lives fighting the One, and spend whatever free time we have teaching our children how to fight her."

"You know," Marco added in conversationally. "I just spent five years of the prime of my life fighting this creature. I really am not looking forward to spending any more time when I should be, you know…"

(Seducing women?) Tobias asked. (Yes, it's so inconvenient that we're fighting to free Ax, not to mention get rid of a being that wants to take over Earth.)

"Whoa, you just sounded like Cassie there for a moment," Marco responded. I waved at them to shut up, and then turned to the control counter to give out the order to turn back when Keav's voice suddenly rang in my head again.

(Princess, I'm going in.)

(What?) I responded, even though I knew what she had said.

(Jake had the right idea all along.)

I hesitated, and then she said, (The fact that you're pausing and not instantly giving me an order to stop means that this is the right decision, and you know it,) and then abruptly stopped speaking.

"Maya?" Oscar said suddenly. "Was Keav talking to you? We didn't hear anything but you stopped…"

"She's going in," I answered, and then started to order the computer to show on its screen the outside when it began beeping at me, the One requesting to open communications. I allowed it, and then stepped back once more.

Her face was livid, and for once she wasn't using Ax's form. "What is the meaning of this?" she cried. "Tell your ship to turn back immediately! You agreed to these talks, these are talks, not chances for sneaking attacks!"

"Sorry," Jeremy called out. "But we're Nadar."

The One's black smoke form billowed, and then communications were cut off once more.

"We need to get out of here," His'onta snapped, and then stepped up to the controls herself. "Jeremy, get up here and man the weapons station. Marco can help, hurry up!"

The two hurried to listen to her, while the rest of us watched, entranced, as Keav's needlepoint ship hurtled through space, as the Blade Ship lumberingly tried to turn around, and then the edge of her ship sliced into the belly of the Blade Ship like a sword forged from star metal.

A slow explosion started, and then Tobias said, (Maya, Ax is still in the One!)

"It's been five years," I responded, and said nothing else.

There was a short moment of silence as we watched the _Winged _bubble up, the fire and heat eating away the Blade Ship, and then Jeremy said suddenly,"Alexa is in there. She's going to survive that, we have to pick her up after she's regenerated."

A sudden blast rocked us, and then, miraculously, the One was beeping at my communications again. I hurried to open them, while Marco said, "Man, she really likes talking to us, doesn't she?"

As soon as the One showed up on the screen, she smiled, her form Ax once more. Beside her was a young human man, his face victorious.

"Looks like you've lost, Princess," the One sneered. "See what my loyal soldier has brought me?"

My eyes fell on the shining silver sphere underneath the foot of the young man, and a sudden hand of fear clutched my heart.

The Time Matrix.

"How…" I managed, when the One twisted away from the screen, her misshapen mouth twisting into a frown. I glimpsed the sight of human, female arms wrapping themselves around the Time Matrix before both it and the arms disappeared.

"NO!" shrieked the One, as she stared at where the Time Matrix just was. She looked up at me with a face full of hatred, and opened her mouth, to spit, "But it's too late for you, anyway, the Tell-" when the explosion chewing up the Blade Ship reached the communications room that she was in, and then the connection failed.

"Who was that?" His'onta asked, her face practically in the screen. "Who was that?"

Nobody had any time to respond, for at that moment Alexa's torso appeared on the floor of our scout ship, the Time Matrix clutched in her hands.

"Give me a second to regenerate," she said, as we gaped. "And since the rest of you _can _die, I would advise that you get out of here."

Her words brought us back, and His'onta began issuing orders to the computer this time, her voice rough with unshed tears, and we went into an automatic pilot mode, heading towards Z-space and away from the spectacularly, flaring Blade Ship. I ordered the other needlepoint fighter to head onto Somolonania without us, that we would follow shortly, and then bent down to help Alexa to her newly grown feet.

"That was quite an accomplishment," I told her, but instead of her usual grin, she looked down at the ground. I touched her shoulder, and said, "She went out the way she would have wanted to – in flight."

"You don't understand," Alexa responded quietly. "Yes, you're upset, you're hurt, or you will be once the elation of winning is over, but to me, this is just the beginning."

I bowed my head, and for a brief, shining moment I saw Keav smiling, the first day we had met when she had piloted us all to safety on the _Hope_, and then the way she had looked when she had learned that she might live, and how happy she had been to have her wings.

"She was a good friend," Jeremy said into the silence. "Someone you could lean on."

"I didn't know her well," Marco added next. "But I wish I could have. She seemed like a fierce, loyal fighter and she proved it to the end."

(She understood what it means to fly,) Tobias said suddenly. (Whenever we flew together, I could tell that she understood implicitly what it meant.)

It was my turn. "Keav never held back, and never gave up. I never knew a braver warrior."

"She reminded me of Maya," Oscar said, and I squeezed his hand.

His'onta shook her head, tears splashing down her face. "Whenever I was feeling like an outcast back in Mayaneria, Keav always knew. She knew what it was like, and that was always enough for me to keep going."

Alexa, with her head still bowed, added quietly, "She was like my sister. We flew together, fought together, and cared for the Kyan together. I thought that since she had morphed to a younger girl, we would have had more time together…"

She broke off, and said, "Keav was more steadfast than anyone I ever met, even though she might not have shown it. I… argued with her about whether or not to go in, and even up to the last moment, even though I could tell she very much wanted to live, she was willing to sacrifice herself and determined to pull through."

"She was a true guardian of the Kyan," I said, speaking the words that we spoke at the death of each Nadar. The other answered me. "And a true Nadar."

(Ax, on the other hand, died a prisoner.)

I looked up to meet Tobias' accusing eyes, and responded, "Free or dead. We've always said that. Free or dead."

He didn't say anything, but I could tell that he accepted my answer, at least for the time being. We began returning to our stations, with little joy. Yes, the One was finally gone, but it had been at a high cost, and her soldiers were still out there. The war wasn't over yet.

His'onta was at the piloting station, her hands busily guiding our ship, named the _Future_, back to Somolonania. "Keav taught me how to fly," she told me when I paused next to her. "I'll never be as good as her, but I do like it. A lot. I think it's because..." she stopped for a moment, and then pressed on with a tearful laugh. "Because I'm such a control freak, you know."

I put my hand on her shoulder, before turning back at the sound of Oscar asking me, "So, what are we going to do with this?"

He was pointing at the Time Matrix, and the room went still.

The most powerful weapon in the universe, and it was at my disposal.

I drew in a deep breath. "Well, to start…"

We could… could we even find a way to zoom in, take Keav? Or maybe even go back to when the One first took Ax, and prevent that from happening? Or perhaps even… go back to the day Rachel died, and stop her from dying?

The possibilities were endless.

"We have to make sure no one knows about it," Marco finished for me, his face deadly serious. "That thing is absolutely the most powerful thing there is."

"Alexa," I told her, "I'm going to appoint you guardian of that thing. Since I trust you more than anyone to not be corrupted by the power it contains."

She nodded, and added, "Yes, after all, I have eternal life and eternal youth, what more could I possibly want?"

The bitterness in her voice was hard to miss.

We continued on in silence and then jumped out of Z-space nearby Somolonania when suddenly His'onta ordered the _Future _to stop and the rest of looked up, surprised.

His'onta was staring in horror at the screen that showed the outside of the ship. My stomach churned, and even without looking up, I knew that whatever was out there had something to do with the One's final words.

A giant energy field was traveling through straight towards Somolonania, chewing up and spitting out the ships that were in orbit around it. I was barely aware of rushing to the screen and falling to my knees in front of it as I watched the field hit my beloved Home World and tear it to pieces.

NORA:

Nora isn't very happy with John, right now. In fact, she's downright pissed with him for ignoring her yesterday on the ride on the Somobus to school, and talking to his "guy friends" instead. Nora would complain to Alexa about it, but Alexa isn't here right now, she's off doing something for the Princess. Again.

John is trying to apologize to her, but she refuses to listen to her twelve-year-old brother's words. I hate boys, Nora thinks instead. All boys are evil. They should all die.

"Nora, I'm sorry," John says, tugging on Nora's arm. She turns around to glare at him, and spits, "Just because I'm a year younger than you and a girl doesn't mean that you have to be embarrassed because of me."

John's head drops, and for a moment Nora is willing to forgive him, except she knows that he will be smiling again in a few seconds, happy and ready to try out some new prank. All the teachers despair of John, Nora knows, and think that he makes a very poor example as the first Kyan.

So Nora continues to glare fiercely at John, and he keeps on looking up at her with a puppy sad face, and then she has to laugh. Of course John instantly smiles, showing that he wasn't sorry at all, and so Nora is angry at him again.

"Come on, let's go to school," he says, and takes her hand in one of his, before sticking out his other arm to signal to a Somobus. Nora pulls away from him, and says, "You aren't really sorry."

John sighs, an exaggerated sigh and says, "Nora, you always do this."

Furious at being treated like a baby, Nora pinches him. Hard.

"Ow!" John cries, and then he reached out to push Nora, but she is too fast for him and she jabs him with her forefinger and thumb. Really angry now, John hits Nora in the shoulder with his fist and then Nora yanks his shaggy hair when a teacher going to school stops them.

Instantly Nora forgives her brother, and instantly John forgives her, and they stand with their arms linked, firmly united against getting in trouble. However the teacher isn't fooled and she sends them off to jail for an hour, all the while telling them, "You should be grateful that you aren't going to an Earthling jail, and that you're just going to the Mayaneria version of a detention. I never want to see you two fighting again, do you understand me?"

Nora mumbles a yes, and then she and John start to head off to jail, when suddenly John stops and points at the sky, shouting, "Look, look!"

The teacher turns to see where John is pointing, and then turns pale. "Go back to school. Never mind about jail. I'll take care of this."

Joyful at having escaped an hour of having to talk to the computer installed in the jail about why she and John fight, and what it means, and how she should be more patient, Nora pulls at John's hand and says, "Come on, let's run," and the two of them manage to run an entire two lengths before the energy wave hits them and they die.


	23. Clues

Chapter 23: Clues

"**It looks like the One got the better of your precious little Animorphs this time, Ellimist."**

"**Back to chat, Crayak? So kind of you. And here I thought you weren't going to be coming back after the last time you stormed off."**

"**Let's just say that although you may be an idealistic old fool, you are the only being who is vaguely close to my intelligence level."**

"**The Drode just doesn't cut it, does he?"**

"**Stop trying to distract me while I'm trying to point out how you've failed. Answer me. The One got the better of your Animorphs, didn't she?"**

"**When all the Animorphs are dead, and the One is alive, I'll agree with you."**

"**Ellimist, you are nauseatingly hopeful sometimes, and ridiculously biased. You won't even admit what a brilliant move it was of the One to arrange to free the Tellak, which must infuriate you, no? You spent so much time trying to throw him in some time prison to keep him from meddling with your meddling."**

"**I spent very little time on the Tellak at all, Crayak, and you know it. In fact, I probably should have spent more time and trapped him completely so he wouldn't have that annoying ability to create temporary alternate universes."**

"**He needs to have some sort of way to amuse himself, Ellimist. He doesn't have these fascinating games that we play."**

"**True enough. Speaking of games, Crayak, I have an idea as to another game, branched off from the Animorphs – one that will involve the seven creatures who survived the Tellak's attack."**

"**I'm listening…"**

"Contact the Andalites," my mouth said, even though my mind was still numb, numb from the sight of Somolonania still exploding. "Contact Earth. Warn them."

No one moved.

I stabbed some button with my left hand, and then ordered the computer to relay a message to the Andalite Home World, but there was an error message and I knew at that moment that the Tellak – for who else could the One have been about to refer to? – had destroyed it already.

I tried Earth, and it patched through, but before anyone on the other end could say anything, the communications were knocked out again.

I dropped my hand helplessly, and continued to look out at my People, at my dearest planet full of nyashas I loved, as it bubbled and boiled and as large chunks broke off and flew away and as it slowly spun itself into oblivion, into dust and ashes.

"Oscar?" I whispered, still staring at where Somolonania had been.

"Yes…?"

"We're going to use the Time Matrix, and make sure none of this ever happens."

"How?" Jeremy burst out. "We know nothing about this… energy field, we just, damn, we just saw what it could do…"

"No," I answered. "I know what it is. It's called the Tellak."

At that, everyone looked up at me. "How do you know that?" His'onta asked, tearing her face from the screen. "That _thing_… is alive?"

"Sit down," I ordered. "It's kind of a long story."

I sighed, and then delved into what I had gone through almost six years ago, adding that I had looked through the Animorph records and seen that Jake had gone through a similar experience. Their reactions were skeptical for the most part, although by the end everyone was a lot more grim.

"And that's all I know," I said leaning back. Alexa still looked frightened from when I had told her about how she had been imprisoned for ten years. "Other than that, we know nothing."

"Then let's go and destroy it!" His'onta exclaimed impatiently. I glanced at her and asked, "Do you have any idea how powerful the Tellak is? We know almost nothing, I just said that!"

His'onta refused to back down. "Princess, if there is one thing I learned from being a Spider, it's that you don't back down. That Tellak, it just trampled on whatever life we had, and got rid of the meaning of most of our lives. We can't take that lying down."

"And I suppose that's why you ran away from being a Spider," Jeremy shot at her, and she instantly looked at the ground, her face red. I glared at him, and started to say something but Tobias cut me off.

(Shut up.)

His'onta looked up at him gratefully, and Jeremy shrugged it off like he did everything. I shook my head, and tried to speak, tried to tell them that all my People were dead, all the Kyan that I had sworn to protect, that my Home World had been blown to bits, could they _please _stop sniping at each other?

"Maya?"

Alexa reached out and touched my arm, but I pulled away. Couldn't let her touch me. Might break down.

"We need to find out more about the Tellak," I stated slowly. "The only place I know of that has information about every single living species, or as many of them as possible, is the Central Library on the Andalite Home World."

"Which was blown to pieces," Jeremy inserted. "Don't see how that is going to help – oh, wait, I'm an idiot."

"Yeah, you - " Marco started and I shot him a fierce glare and he stopped.

"Alright, let's do it, then," Oscar said, speaking up for the first time. He placed his hand on the Time Matrix. "Let's get this thing."

I don't think he even noticed the quick, sharp glances that Tobias, Marco and I gave him.

"Wait, one of us has to stay here," I pointed out. "It's not a good idea to leave this ship simply floating in space."

Nobody especially looked happy about the idea of volunteering to stay behind, so I finally pulled His'onta out. As a nothlit, she was more of a risk to us than the other morphers.

His'onta slumped away, but obeyed, and watched as the six of us touched the Matrix, and then shimmered away.

I had timed it so we would land two days before the Tellak attacked, giving us enough time to look through the material, and also giving us the most up to date information possible. It was night time – I didn't want to run into anyone who wouldn't believe our story.

The moonlight spilled through the windows at the top of the dome, and we four humans, one Biolex and one hawk made our way silently through it, as I carried the Time Matrix in my arms, not willing to put down our only chance at bringing everyone back alive. We wandered through the walls full of electronic screens, and stopped every so often to examine them, until we came across panel on labeled simply, "Legends."

"A creature like the Tellak is bound to be a legend," Oscar pointed out, and so we crowded around the panel.

I tried hard not to think of the fact that Somolonania was still there, floating in the stars, in orbit around our sun, tried not to think of everyone still alive…

"Here," I whispered, pointing. "There. I can see Tellak, but that's it. Someone touch it to activate the thought-speech recording."

Alexa reached up to touch it, when a suspicious voice called, (What are you doing here?)

(Stun him,) I ordered Jeremy, and before the young Andalite could say another word, he was down on the ground.

"What was _he_ doing here?" whispered His'onta, obviously aghast. Oscar responded. "Probably a student, studying for the exams or something." Alexa's hand once more slipped up to touch the screen, and then the recording began.

(The Tellak is a legendary creature, thought to have been the rival of the Ellimist who defeated him and bound him so it could not roam freely. However, legend has it that the Ellimist was unable to completely control him, and that the Tellak can, at times, create temporary alternate universes from his prison.)

The recording stopped.

"That's it?" I whispered incredulously, and then pushed inside to get a closer look.

There it was – the word Tellak in Andalite script, and then, I noticed underneath it, smaller words that I couldn't quite make out. Puzzled, I reached out to touch them, but instead of a recording being played, an image popped into my head.

It was of an achingly beautiful blue planet, except for instead of having green and brown like Earth, it was completely blue. An ocean planet, with no landmasses whatsoever.

I drew in a sharp breath, and said, "Did anyone else see the planet?"

They assented, and then Oscar asked, "What does it mean?"

I stared back at the shimmering words, and said quietly, "It's a clue. That's where we're supposed to go next. Someone – or something – is helping us find the Tellak."

I turned around, and then placed the Time Matrix on the ground, with my foot on it, and then said, "Okay, back to His'onta. And then, to this planet."

There was hope. There was still hope…

We disappeared, and then reappeared on the _Future. _His'onta blinked, and said, "You just went… you found the information that quickly?"

I shook my head. "No, I just came back to the ship right after we left. We don't have to worry about spending time."

"So, what did you find out?"

I ordered someone else to explain, and then drew Alexa aside. "Do you know how to use this thing?"

She nodded. "Part of my basic training, to learn about anything or anybody that was as immortal as me."

"Okay… then take us to the planet we saw."

"Which time?"

I frowned, thinking about it. "The present time is fine for now."

She nodded, and then said, "Okay, everyone gather around."

His'onta bounced up. "No way are you leaving me behind this time, I refuse to stay and baby-sit the _Future._"

Marco gave a soft laugh, and His'onta turned to look at him. "What's so funny?"

He shook his head. "Nothing… it's just what you said, baby-sit the _Future_. That's what we're all trying to do here isn't it? Take care of the future?"

Before Jeremy could say something derisive like, "Forgive us if we don't find you funny," I ordered everyone closer, and then told Alexa to bring the ship along with us and to put us in orbit around the planet.

Alexa nodded again, and then we reached out to touch the hard metal of the sphere, and everything around us vanished.

When we shimmered back into existence, we were locked in orbit around the watery planet beneath us. I strode over to order the computer to search for any living DNA, and it came up with nothing.

"Doesn't mean that something isn't there," Oscar immediately countered. "All it means is that we don't have it on our databases. Who knows which quadrant of space we're in?"

A rhetorical question, but a good one. Was it worth the risk to go down?

"We're not going to find anything by staying up here," I said slowly. "We need to go down into the atmosphere."

"And then kill the _last _hope of turning everything back," Marco scoffed. "Not a good idea."

"I'll go down," Alexa volunteered. "After all I can't - "

"Die, yes, we know," cut in Jeremy impatiently. "But you can be imprisoned forever, while if one of us goes down, we won't have to suffer as long."

Gloomily, we stood on our feet, struggling with some sort of idea. The problem was that none of us really knew what we were doing… what we were looking for… and we had no way of knowing. We had come to this planet on the faintest of hints, and were left thinking, _Now what?_

(Alexa…) Tobias said, his face giving away nothing as usual. (Do you think you could use the Time Matrix to, I don't know, leaf through time? Like, we could stay here and go backwards through time, slowly enough that we could see if anyone came to this planet? Or would that not work?)

"It would," Alexa answered. "Although not quite in that manner, but in a similar way."

"How long would it take?" I asked.

"It would depend on how long ago or how far into the future someone came or left, and also how quickly I have the Time Matrix turn time. It can be instantaneous – if I have the Time Matrix look for a disturbance in this planet's atmosphere."

"This is insane," I heard Marco mutter, and I agreed with him silently, but then turned to Alexa. "Okay, go ahead."

"Backwards or forwards in time?"

I almost laughed. What a question. Yet an accurate one, wasn't it? Someone from the future could have come to change the past.

"I can leaf it both ways, but we should pick one direction to try first."

"Past," I said with a shrug. "Might as well."

"Okay," Alexa responded, drawing in a breath. We all huddled around the Time Matrix once more, prepared to dive back into what seemed like a wild goose chase, but what we really really hoped wasn't.

"There."

"We're here?" Marco looked around in surprise. "What happened?"

"Just moving in time and not in space is different from moving in space," Alexa explained, and then said, "I should let you know, Maya, we are waaaaay back in time. Like… really really far back in time."

"You're immortal, tell us what way back in time means?" Jeremy asked.

"Billions of years," Alexa responded. "Maybe trillions."

Stunned for a moment, I didn't say anything, and then asked, "What did the Time Matrix stop us here for?"

At that moment our computer alerted us that another ship had just passed by and was going down towards the planet, and I looked up sharply before remembering that the _Future _was well cloaked and undetectable.

"The other ship is going down…" I murmured, and then went to the computer to look for living DNA again, but this time instead of searching for specific species, I just looked for general DNA.

"There is a landmass now," His'onta commented, looking at the maps that she was having the computer pull up. "That's where the other ship is headed."

"There's something down there," I told them. "The _Future _found unspecified DNA, and…"

Puzzled, I stopped speaking, and leaned closer to the patterns. Normally when looking for DNA, the computer would show on a map the clusters of DNA, indicating where the species were, but this time… it looked almost as if there was no end to the creature, that it encompassed every part of the planet except the landmass that His'onta has just pointed out.

"What?" Oscar prompted, and I continued, "And it's huge. It's massive. It's in every part of the sea."

"Are you sure that there aren't just many creatures scattered all over the oceans?" Jeremy questioned, but I shook my head. "Look at the DNA patterns – no variation whatsoever. This is one huge underwater monster."

"Let's not jump to conclusions…" Alexa began, but Jeremy reminded, "You said that about the Vampire Spiders."

"And she was right," jumped in a defiant His'onta. "You wouldn't have me if it weren't for Alexa."

"I would keenly feel the loss," joked Marco, smiling at her, and I snapped at them to pay attention.

(What is it?)

"I tracked the DNA of the creatures on the ship that just went past us," I explained, "And had the computer store it. Then I searched for it, to see if they were meeting anyone of the same species, but nothing showed up except for those on the ship. And then… they all disappeared… except one."

"That something down there," I continued, "Killed them all at once, except for one, who either survived, or who he's keeping alive for whatever reason."

"Should we… rescue that one…?" Marco started uncertainly, and Alexa violently shook her head, causing us to look at her in surprise.

"Yeah, I know, out of character," she said, almost sheepishly. "But this far back in time… we have no idea who that creature is, and what effect it's going to have in the future. Just being here is dangerous enough, we don't know what our simple presence is going to affect."

"Well, we have our next clue," I said. "Whoever put that image of this planet in the Andalite Home World's library records, wanted us to find this species. I have their DNA, all we need to do is find where they came from."

"How?" Oscar asked and I looked at Alexa. She said, "Show me the DNA patterns, maybe I'll recognize them."

I had the computer call them up, and she turned her head to the side and said, "I… I do know this planet… it… I must have learned about it but…"

"But what?" I asked.

"Nothing, it's just… some memory tugged at me for a moment, but it's gone now."

"Okay," I said, deciding to ignore it. Alexa sometimes had weird memory issues. "Take us there, to this when, and we'll roll time back again until this crew leaves the planet."

We each reached out to touch the Time Matrix once again, and Alexa obligingly helped us all disappear.

**Author's Notes**

Thanks to Beekiller for all your reviews, and welcome back! And as for question to the flooding – that won't be explained in this chronicle, but will come up in the next series. Hope you enjoyed!


	24. Azure Level

Chapter 24: Azure Level, Seven Spar, Extension Two, Down-Messenger, Forty-one

**You cheated, Ellimist.**

**No, actually, I've been following rather strictly all the rules of this new game that you and I just agreed to.**

**I know you, and you cheated.**

**Perhaps you would like to enlighten me on how?**

**You knew that we were going to be playing this game, you miserable old man, you can see into the future. You knew to set all the clues there already for these Tellakists to follow. You set them long before you even suggested this game to me.**

**I have to admit, Crayak, I find it incredibly amusing how you accuse me of being a fool one moment, and then give me powers that I actually don't have that much ability in.**

**And what were you planning on doing if I had refused to agree to play this Tellak game?**

**Refused to agree? You realize you only need to refuse, not refuse to agree?**

**I despise you, Ellimist.**

**Why, what a surprise.**

**Your precious Tellak hunters won't make it, Ellimist. This isn't a place to flex muscles, this is a war of the minds, and they aren't the most brilliant group around.**

**They've made it so far.**

**Yes, but only just. And when they lose, I won't even have to do anything, the Tellak already did it all for me.**

"I'm going in."

"No, Alexa, you can't morph. You can't hide among these creatures, just because they have wings like you doesn't mean that you'll be able to use them as camouflage."

Resentfully Alexa glared at Jeremy. "Well, don't think that you're going in either, mister."

"Mister?" chortled Jeremy, before Tobias said, (I'll go in – I can morph, and Alexa is right that this planet is made for people with wings.)

"That's not an issue," objected Oscar. "In that case, anyone who can morph could go in, we just have to morph to some bird, demorph, and then we're set."

"They look funny," Marco said suddenly. "But familiar at the same time." He glanced up at the screen that had a photograph of one of the creatures in the planet below. "Weirdly familiar."

Alexa had traced the other ship back through time, following them as they drifted from planet to planet, much like we had when we had first been looking for a Home World. It had been a painstaking procedure, with Alexa having to return back to the planet of water more than once in order to try it again. Marco had complained several times, saying that the last time he had been stuck six months in space at least they had a DVD player, until Tobias finally snapped at him, pointing out that the rest of us were stuck here as well.

The Time Matrix had eventually led us to the planet that we were now in orbit around, with the same creatures on what almost seemed like large rotating blimps. Tensions were high, and everyone wanted to leave the _Future_.

"I'm going in," I announced suddenly, and then waved my hand to stop any protest. "And I'm still your War Princess, so shut up and obey me, for once."

"You do realize that you got stuck with the most insubordinate crew?" asked Jeremy, idly playing with the shredder he always had with him. "I think the only person here who actually refers to you as Princess is His'onta."

That prompted another argument as His'onta told Jeremy off for acting like that was a bad thing, and as Alexa joined her, pointing out that it said something more about Jeremy's character than anything else, until he pointed out to her that she called me Maya as well, and then I looked at Oscar and said, "Try to keep them from killing each other," before taking an escape pod and guiding it down to the planet.

I had an oxygen mask with me, in case the atmosphere wasn't breathable by human bodies, and then I slowly landed my cloaked escape pod near the single creature that we had picked out from space. Holding my shredder, I carefully exited the pod and then stunned the creature in one swift movement.

I stayed by the escape pod for a few minutes, ready to leap back in if anyone saw me, and then I hurried forward, fingers outstretched.

It was one of the weirdest morphs I had ever done, complete with swiveling wings on my back. I couldn't figure out what they were for, but ignored them and instead let my mind merge with this new creature, while at the same time keeping an eye on the prone body that was in front of me.

Memes. An instinct took hold of me and instead of fighting it, I sought to understand it. A meme was waiting for me. A challenge to a game from Inidar.

I opened the meme and then found myself facing two types of species, that I had to… what was that? Choose? Yes, choose and then make a small change, the smallest one that change the species so they would win…

Unnerved, I pulled back from this other mind and then noticed that the planet of one of the species was Earth, but Earth with a silver sphere hovering near it?

Confused I stared, until Inidar memmed me. "I'll take the Martians, Ellimist, if you don't mind. Shall we immerse?" and full realization of what these creatures did hit me and I staggered back when

Ellimist.

I looked at the creature I had knocked out. Ellimist… so, he had been playing games with the lives of species since he was young, had he? Had been using creatures as pawns, had been…unless maybe… it was all a game...

"No," I memmed back, and started to say, "I have to go," when Inidar responded, "Yes, I'd actually rather try the Pangabans and the Gunja Wave, myself."

I demorphed as quickly as possible, and started to head back to my pod, but then stopped at the body of… the Ellimist. Could it be? Was this really him?

He seemed so young.

The creature stirred, and I instantly tore for the escape pod, latching myself in and watching through the screen in relative invisibility. He seemed puzzled, but then after a while returned to the same state that we had originally seen him in.

I quietly left, the image of the silver sphere next to Earth still in my mind.

Back in the _Future,_ Alexa hurried to help me out, and asked, "What did you find out?"

"The Ellimist," my mouth blurted out. "This is where the Ellimist came from. This planet. I just morphed him. I have his DNA in my body."

Silence answered me.

"Why didn't I kill him?" I asked, and then Marco gave a slight cough. "Um, Maya, because that would mean that Crayak would probably have wiped us all out already."

"I hated him," I answered, still closed in my thoughts. "I cursed him, you know that? Because…"

I stopped. No one knew of the human woman I had met, the human woman who had to be me, in some distant future, of the human woman who had given me the power to morph.

I had cursed her too, hadn't I? I almost laughed. I had cursed myself! I had brought on myself my miserable life because I had reacted with hate out of fear.

(If it weren't for the Ellimist, I wouldn't have been born,) offered Tobias wryly and I half grinned.

"I never really thought about the Ellimist as a normal sentient, I guess," I responded, slowly returning to normal. "Hey, why isn't this fazing you out more? I mean, you, Marco, Tobias."

Marco shrugged. "I don't know, the Ellimist had to come from somewhere, right? I never had as many experiences with him as you did, you seemed to be his special pet sometimes."

I resented that, but it was true. Why _had _the Ellimist been so interested in me?

Whatever. No time for that. We had to go.

"Did you get the next clue?" His'onta asked me eagerly. I nodded, and she continued, "Good, because we only have about six months of supplies left."

"We have to go to Earth," I told everyone, and Tobias responded, (Earth is destroyed.) Oscar corrected him. "No, Earth actually doesn't exist yet."

"Yes…" I said, keeping the image in my mind. "We have to go to Earth a time when the Time Matrix isn't in it, but rather outside of it. When…"

I stopped, trying to make sense of it. "Someone dug up the Time Matrix from where it was hidden. We have to go Earth at that moment, right when someone digs it up and it's no longer in Earth anymore."

I looked up at Alexa. "Can you do that?"

She hesitated, and answered slowly, "Yes… I think I can. I'd have to search for a younger Time Matrix. We should probably do it in two steps first, though, go to Earth and then flip forward in time."

"Go to Earth when Elfangor first buries the Time Matrix," I told her. "And then go to when someone takes it out again."

"That would be when we went on that insane time ride with that one Yeerk dude, remember?" commented Marco.

"Right," I responded. "So skip that and go to the next time someone takes out the Time Matrix."

"It's going to take a while," Alexa told me. "I'm going to have to trace it again."

"We only have six months," Jeremy replied. "Can you do it in six months?"

"No," groaned Marco. "Not another half year in this trap."

Everyone joined him as Alexa said, "Yes, it would take about that long."

"Shh, shh," I ordered everyone, and then said, "We can pick up supplies on Earth if we have to."

Alexa turned to the Time Matrix and then touched it, blocking the rest of us out and she focused.

Marco turned away. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up in half a year."

"I think I'm going to go to bed too," I responded. "We should all start sleeping more, and eating less. His'onta, can you begin rationing?"

She nodded, and then Tobias ruffled a wing. (Not to pull a Marco or anything, but this is getting a bit rough. Another six months of dehydrated food and now we have to ration? It's a good thing that this ship was specifically stocked with food for me otherwise I'd be dead.)

I yawned and nodded at the same time, and then turned to my berth and threw myself in, and dreamed that night of old blue men with wings and sad eyes.

--

"There he is," I whispered, even though I could have screamed and the sound wouldn't have traveled outside of the _Future._ All seven of us were hunched over the screen, staring at the man who was digging through the bottom of the monument at the middle of the night.

"Why aren't we killing him?" Jeremy asked me, also in a whisper, his fingers twitching.

"Good question," Marco responded in hushed tones, and then asked normally, "Hey, why are we all whispering?"

"Shhhhh!" we hissed, and he murmured, "Sorry, sorry…"

"We're not killing him," Alexa responded, looking exhausted. "Because we need to know where he is going."

"He's going to the One, isn't he?" His'onta asked. "I mean, look, he's picked up the Time Matrix, right about now Keav should be going in for her run…"

"No," I responded. "We have to make sure of where he is going. Somehow this is all connected to the Tellak, and we need to figure out how."

The man shimmered and disappeared, and Alexa instantly went back to our own Time Matrix, searching for where he went.

"Good hunch, Maya," she responded a few moments later. "He didn't go to the One. He's at a planet right now on the other side of the universe."

"Follow him," I ordered, and the next instant we were on another world.

"Are we on Mars?" Oscar asked, looking out at the screen. The planet was, well, red.

(No,) Tobias responded, his eyes sharply examining the details of the landscape outside. (That's grass. All of it. We're in a prairie of red grass.)

His'onta checked quickly on the computer a few biostats of the planet and sang out, "It's suitable for humans, can we all go out?"

I hesitated, and then said, "We're in our current time, or almost, so yes, we won't screw anything up for our time."

"Me first," Jeremy said, pulling himself up, and cautioning us aside with his shredder. "In case there is anything out to attack us, I want to be in a position where I can get it right away."

He pulled out of the hatch, and we waited for a few minutes, bursting with impatience. With the exception of the few minutes I spent on the Ellimist's Home World, we had all been locked up in a virtual prison for a year.

(Okay, it's all clear,) Jeremy called out. (And I think you guys will want to come out to see this.)

Puzzled, we filed out like eager school children, breathing in the air that was a bit more oxygen than we were used to, and then stopped to gawk at what Jeremy was pointing to.

A giant, wide, cylinder was a little bit off in the distance, a swirling mass of blue electricity in the middle of a red field. It stretched up to the sky, and didn't seem to end, just kept going and going and going.

Tobias swirled up into the air, and then alerted us, (The guy that we were following, he's going on a beeline towards that… whatever it is.)

"After him!"

Alexa swept into the air, still holding the Time Matrix. It weighed her down so she could only fly as fast as the rest of us ran, but she still kept gamely on. I almost laughed as I leapt forward, stretching the leg muscles I hadn't used for the past year and the other four surged along with me.

Tobias climbed higher and higher, and his thought speech spilled into our ears as we all exalted in our freedom.

Too soon we had to come to a stop when the crackling blue cylinder was only a few lengths away from us, with the One's man right near it.

Jeremy lifted up his shredder and aimed it directly at the man. "Don't move," Jeremy warned him. "Or I'll kill you."

The man looked fearfully back at us, and then spat, in the same way the One always did. "As if you could stop the One who is All."

His fingers strayed toward the cylinder, and I suddenly understood.

"Don't touch it," I ordered, waiting for his reaction. "You'll release it."

His sneer was confirmation enough. "That is what I want to do."

I sucked in my breath sharply. The One was a cheater. What a cheap, cheap trick, to send the Tellak in to kill us all.

Keav was probably arguing with herself right now about whether or not to launch the _Winged _into the One's ship…

What would happen if the Time Matrix never showed up in the Blade Ship? Keav would die, Alexa would regenerate, we would pick her up, and then go back to a still living Somolonania and mop up the rest of the One's forces. Could we go back and somehow save Keav in the nick of time?

And then… go back and undo all the deaths that we had had to live through?

Go back to save even Mamai?

Slow down, I ordered myself. First we have to keep the One from releasing the Tellak.

"You know, you'll die if you touch the Tellak," I informed him, but his eyes glinting madly showed me that he didn't care. He was completely under the power of the One.

Suddenly he screamed, and drew his arm back away from the cylinder, clutching what was now a stump of his arm. Jeremy shot another lancing beam, and the man disappeared.

"I decided we should do something instead of just waiting for the One to do something," Jeremy explained, and Alexa looked away.

Jeremy strode forward and said, "Well, I'll put this Time Matrix back then…"

"No need," a quiet Alexa broke in. "Keav is going kamikaze as we speak. But this time, the Time Matrix will never reach the One, and it'll never be in our possession. The Tellak will never go destroy Somolonania, and we will never take this time trip."

Oscar looked at her, perplexed. "Then how do we get back?"

"The timeline we were in will re-assert itself." Alexa pointed at her shimmering arm. "Time will take us back."

**Author's Note**

And I'm back! Sorry for the semi-long disappearance, but here's a chapter and it'll hopefully make up for it. And Chinmayi, as for your question, yes Jordan and Oscar eventually do become a pairing in In Their Footsteps. Thanks for reading everyone, and a special thank you to those who review as well!


	25. The First Test

Chapter 25: The First Test

**I can't believe it.**

**Believe it, Crayak, they won.**

**Ellimist, Maya is not that intelligent. You must have done something to her in order for her to understand your clues.**

**No, she was simply desperate and ready to grasp at straws.**

**I still can't believe it.**

**Crayak, you are beginning to make me question _your _intelligence level. Did the Tellakists find a way to defeat the Tellak or did they not?**

**Now it is my turn in the game, Ellimist, my turn to set up a test for them.**

**Don't forget the stakes, Crayak. If they pass your tests, then you destroy - **

**I know, I know, I destroy the Tellak. _If_ they pass my tests.**

**They will.**

**Ellimist, you are infuriatingly optimistic about everything.**

**And you are mind numbingly pessimistic about everything that is left.**

**Why do I talk to you? Why, in all the heavens above, do I talk to you?**

**Because you're lonely.**

**I should kill you for even thinking the thought.**

**But you know you are, Crayak. We both are.**

I closed my eyes and waited, waited to hear the sound of the _Winged _shoot through the One's ship, waited to watch Keav die once more, but there was no sound and puzzled, I opened my eyes.

There was nothing.

Tellak, Ellimist, Crayak take your pick of infuriatingly meddlesome beings who couldn't seem to be able to keep their hands to themselves.

"What do you want?" I shouted into the nothingness. "This time, that is. WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

A single glowing, red eye faded in, and then a blue winged man joined him.

"Whoa, Maya? You're here? And…"

Jake's voice rang out and I whipped my head around, scarcely breathing. It had been a year since I had seen him last.

Cassie suddenly emerged next to him, and then Marco, a human Tobias, and lastly, Aximili, also in human morph.

Rachel's absence was painfully present.

"Ax-man," Marco breathed. "You're… alive?"

We all turned to face Crayak and Ellimist, almost as if there had been a signal.

"Why am I in human morph?" demanded Tobias, eyes darting around. "And what are we doing here? We should be back in the _Future._"

"I left those clues for you," the Ellimist suddenly explained, his voice surprisingly human. "And I made a deal with Crayak. If you found your way to the Tellak, and prevented the One from using the Time Matrix, you would have to pass the Crayak's tests. If you pass those tests, then Crayak will destroy the Tellak."

"And if we don't feel like playing?" Marco shot back. "Like, maybe we feel like living our own lives and not being pawns in your little games?"

"What's going on?" Jake interrupted. "One second I was on my ship and then…"

"The One cheated and used the Time Matrix to free the Tellak, a being that destroyed Somolonania, the Andalite Home World, and Earth," I explained shortly, my eyes on the Ellimist, trying to reconcile him to the creature I had morphed. "You've been dead for the past year. Cassie and Ax too. Tobias, Marco and I have spent that last year running all over the galaxy and all the way over time to find the Tellak and we succeeded but now…"

"Now we have to do more tests," I finished.

None of us were very happy.

"To free me?" Aximili said suddenly. "All this, just to free me?"

I laughed shortly. "We've been fighting a war for the past five years that started in order to free you."

He looked down, as if embarrassed.

"You don't need to feel grateful," I continued. "You're dead too, have been for the past year. We decided that Jake had been right all along, that the only way to beat the One was to destroy her, and that meant destroying you as well."

"So you will undertake Crayak's tests?" the Ellimist questioned in the silence that followed.

"Do we really have a choice?" Cassie asked, and nobody answered.

"Well, actually, you do," continued the Ellimist. Why wasn't Crayak saying anything? "Between three situations. This test is simply to survive the situation – each one of you."

"What are the three?" asked Jake, his voice strong, and this time Crayak responded.

"The explosion of Mt. Vesuvius, the sinking of the Titanic, or the Rape of Nanking."

Indistinctively we all turned to Jake, and he gave a half grin at our response before saying, "Okay, can we talk about it?"

"Quickly."

"Rape of Nanking? What's that?" Tobias asked, and I answered. "It's when Japanese soldiers during WWII killed 300,000 Chinese civilians in the space of six weeks."

"Let's not go there," Marco said lightly, and Jake said, "Okay, then, Mt. Vesuvius or the Titanic. There has to be some sort of catch to this thing, Crayak is not going to make this easy for us, so which situation is easier to deal with?"

"It depends on the catch, Prince Jake," answered Ax and I bowed my head for a moment. When had been the last time I had heard those words? It seemed like a lifetime ago.

Jake grinned. "It's good to have you back, Ax."

"Titanic," Cassie answered, after a smile for Ax. "They speak English, at least, and we can always morph dolphins and get away easily enough."

"Yeah, we don't know much about Mt. Vesuvius, anyway," I added, and we turned back to face Crayak.

"Titanic? So be it. Except I think you are missing one member of your team."

I stiffened, and then felt Tobias falter next to me. Jake had drawn in his breath, and even Marco looked serious.

Then in front of us, appeared a beautiful golden haired girl.

"Rachel?" Tobias asked weakly. She turned to face him, smiling.

"No," Jake said. "No. Don't do this, Crayak."

The temperature of the nothingness we were in suddenly went down and Crayak hissed quietly, "Do you think I have forgiven you, yet, Yeerk killer?"

"But after the tests, she's going to go back to being dead," I blurted out. "You… you can't do this to us."

The two didn't answer; as Rachel stood there, as none of us moved and then I looked down to see that I was no longer wearing my Nadar Army uniform, but a simple worn dress straight from the early 1900's.

I looked around at the others, and saw that they, too, were dressed differently, from Marco's richer attire to Jake's all black rags.

Nothingness began spinning, and I closed my eyes once more.

--

And opened them to stare up at a ceiling.

I almost fell out of my bunk in my hurry to get off, and one of the other women looked up at me. "Are you alright, Rebecca?"

I nodded, and smiled at her, putting my hand over my heart to calm it down. "Just had a scare for a moment," I said as lightly as possible. At least I knew my name now.

"Your brother came looking for you just now," she said, pointing at the door with her chin. "But we told him you were asleep – he's probably right outside."

I thanked her, and then shot out through the door, just in time to see Tobias disappear around a corner. "Tobias," I called, and he turned around and came back down the narrow aisle.

"Daniel, actually," he corrected. "You're my sister, you know?"

I nodded, and asked, "When did you get here?"

"Just now," he responded. "I was standing in front of your door, with my hand raised as if I was about to knock, so I decided to. A woman let me in, called me Daniel, and told me that 'my sister' was sleeping. I saw you, and since I didn't know your name, decided to let you keep on sleeping."

"My name is Rebecca," I told him, and then held my head. "We have to find the others."

"That might take some time," Tobias returned. "We're in 3rd class, steerage, and we have no idea where the others are."

"3rd class, huh?" I said. "Crayak must dislike me. And you."

Tobias suddenly jerked, a very hawk-like motion, and then said, "Sorry, but… I would really like to find Rachel."

I nodded. "I would too."

The two of us began heading up the stairway, reading signs, trying to find our way out of steerage. We didn't know which classes the other Animorphs were in, so we decided to just try and find our way out to where we could see the sky, and then figure out a plan from there.

Finally, we burst out onto a deck, and not sure which one, we meandered through it, looking at the different people.

"We should probably ask people what date it is," I murmured to Tobias. "When did the Titanic sink?"

"How should I know?" he answered. "I never even watched the movie."

"You didn't?" I said, turning around in surprise. "Well, I never watched it in theaters, not sure if I was on Earth at that point or not, but I did watch it eventually."

Tobias shrugged, and said, "Well, I do know some of the more famous scenes, like the flying one." He pointed up ahead. "Up there."

I flipped ahead. "Let's try it."

I clambered up, and then had Tobias come up behind me, and we stood there with the wind whipping our faces, enjoying the sea breeze.

But that was it.

I stuck out my arms and even waved them around a little, but it didn't help, and disappointed, we both climbed back down.

"I guess after plummeting through the atmosphere, nothing really compares," Tobias remarked woefully. I nodded, and then a group of people walked by so I started to answer in thought speech.

Tobias didn't answer, so I tried again, but he still didn't answer. "Tobias?" I finally called out. "Didn't you hear me?"

"You said something?"

Puzzled, I tried again, and then it hit me. He couldn't hear me. My thought speech ability was no longer there.

Imagine that you wake up one day, blind. After an entire life of sight, and then for no reason that you can tell, you can't see anymore. Would that not induce some level of fear, even hysteria?

That's the way I felt when I realized that I couldn't use thought speech. I had been able to think to people my entire life, even before I could morph, and now…

If I couldn't use thought speech…

Tobias was talking about how we should just get away while we still could, just gather the others and morph dolphins and swim away. Crayak hadn't said we needed to be alive as humans, and as long as we were alive, we'd be fine.

I looked at my hand, and then began concentrating on the Elemaki form of it, knowing that I was taking a risk but too afraid not to try.

Nothing happened.

"Tobias?" I said, a tremor in my voice. He was still talking, now mentioning that he would probably need to demorph soon.

"Tobias, demorph."

He looked at me as if I was crazy, and I wished I were. "In front of all these people?"

"Just do it," I whispered, and he continued to look at me. "Maya…"

"Tobias, just start it at least, and then back out."

A few seconds later he had me by my arms, and was thrusting a terrified face in mine. "I'm a nothlit again?" He half begged me to say it wasn't so.

"No," I responded, shaking my head. "No, that's the catch Jake was talking about. None of us can morph. I can't even use thought speech – you can't either. We are absolutely and totally human, and absolutely and totally dead."

"Maya! Tobias!" a voice called out, and Cassie hurried toward us. "Thank goodness I found you, I was beginning to think I was here all by myself. You know that they kicked me out of second class for being black? They told me that steerage was the only place for colored people to go, and consequently I don't have a place to stay."

Her words shook us out of our reverie, and I responded rather weakly, "Well, maybe if one of us ended up first class, they'll be able to take you in."

Cassie took a single glance at us and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Quickly I explained the situation to her, and then I turned around and hugged her. Surprised, she hugged me back and asked, "What was that for?"

"You've been dead for a year," I responded. "And I haven't seen you in nine. So I decided I might as well use this opportunity to thank you from keeping us all from going mad during the Animorph War."

Her shy smile thanked me back, and then she and Tobias hugged too, as he whispered his thanks.

"Do you know where the others are?" I asked Cassie, and she shook her head. "They should be coming around here soon, though, I mean, this is one of the Titanic's most famous spots."

All three of us were jittery, but there was nothing to do but wait. Cassie and I talked most of the time, catching up on nine years of life. Of course, I had seen her and spoken to her during a few of the daily holochats she and Jake had, but eight years is a long time.

Cassie tapped my arm. "Something is different about you, Maya," she said quizzically. "I don't think that we would have ever had this conversation back on Earth during the war. We didn't exactly see eye to eye."

Tobias jumped back into the conversation. "I thought Maya would kill Cassie off more than once, to be honest. Maya's way of dealing with problems was to kill the person perceived to be the source of the problem and then move on."

I winced. That had come a little too close to home.

Cassie touched my shoulder and said with a smile, "Yeah, well, then it's a good thing that you're different. What exactly is the difference though? I can't put my finger on it."

I pursed my lips, thinking, and then responded, "To be honest… I just don't feel so angry anymore. I used to be angry all the time. I hated almost everybody too, and it made me kind of miserable."

"More than kind of," she laughed, and I had to agree. I had been a downright, miserable murderer.

We reminisced a little bit about the Animorph War (bizarre to think that I had lived nine more years of life since we won it) and then Cassie asked, "Oh, do you happen to know which class Jake was put in? I know Crayak really doesn't like him, so I thought he might be put in third, with you two."

Tobias and I shook our heads. "We didn't see him," he volunteered.

"Wait a second…" I said, thinking back to his clothes. "He was wearing all black… like those workers in the boilers, shoveling coal."

Cassie gave me a quick, sharp glance. "You mean he's down _there?__And _he can't morph?"

"Don't worry," I rushed to assure her. "We can get him out anytime, and he can wear one of Tobias' spare clothes. No one will notice."

She shook her head. "Maya, we don't have much time. Today is Sunday the 13th – the ship sinks tomorrow, early in the morning. I did a report on the Titanic ages ago, but I remember the dates."

Slowly the seriousness of the situation began to dawn on Tobias and me. We had spent the last year just clinging to a thread of hope, and the fact that we were with other Animorphs, and were alive, had given us a false sense of security.

"Look, the whole gang is here!" rang out Marco's voice, and I turned to see him with Ax in tow.

Rachel was beside him, with her typical devil-may-care grin, and I leapt to my feet, but stayed back, letting Tobias make the first move.

When I turned to look at him though, he was staring straight at her, as still as a statue, his shaggy hair half covering his eyes. This was too much for him, I knew. It was too much for all of us.

**Author's Note**

Credit to where credit is due - around three years ago I read a story about the Animorphs on Titanic. That planted the seed in my head for an Animorphs on Titanic thing, and has been in my head for three years now and came out as this. I don't remember who wrote it or what the title was or any of the details of the plot, but thank you to whoever you are!


	26. One Last Chance

Chapter 26: One Last Chance

**I never really thought much of humans, you know. Or Andalites. I much preferred creatures like my Howlers.**

**I knew you were upset by their… contamination, but enough to put Jake in the boilers underneath the ship? He's almost certainly doomed to die without help.**

**Yes, does that bother you? I hope it does.**

**Crayak…**

**It was a toss up between Maya and Jake, to be honest. I was bitterly, bitterly disappointed by her, but in the end, I still hated Jake the most. Also, women weren't really employed to shovel coal in those ages.**

**You only hate the humans and Andalites because I prefer them.**

**Really, Ellimist, do you think I'd be that petty?**

**Yes.**

**So, yes, I am that petty, but you also only hated the Howlers because I preferred them.**

**I hated the Howlers for what they represented – mindless death, without any appreciation for life, without even any capacity of appreciation for life.**

**And I hate the humans and Andalites for their inane endurance, their capacity to keep hoping in even the direst situations.**

**Why does hope bother you so much, Crayak?**

**I never had any. Why should anyone else?**

"Look," Rachel broke in, into the stillness. "I'm still me. And I know this is hard for you – it's hard for me, too, but just think of this as one last chance to say goodbye, okay? One more day. I know that's all I ever wanted."

Her words broke the spell and Tobias silently reached out to her, and they held each other, desperately, as they both shed tears for the life they could have had.

"She's exactly the same," Marco said from beside me. "Exactly."

Cassie was next, and the two best friends from a lifetime ago were finally reunited, as Rachel joked that Cassie seemed to have no fashion sense even in the 1900's, and the familiar repartee caused Cassie to dissolve into tears.

I was last, and afraid of what she would say about the Blade Ship, I didn't say anything at first.

But I didn't need to.

"It was worth it," she told me, her eyes staring into mine, which were the mirror image of hers. "I never needed to forgive you, Maya, because it was worth it."

We too embraced, and then Marco pointed out that our eyes looked exactly the same, and I told him they were, and Aximili joined in after five years to point out that actually the nerve optics were slightly different, and Tobias was holding Rachel's hand and Cassie was smiling at Rachel and we were all there except

"Where is Prince Jake?"

I told him and the others of what Cassie and I figured out, and the mood suddenly became grimmer.

"Cassie can stay with me," Rachel said instantly. "First class passengers get access to the lifeboats right away, and if she is with me, then she'll be able to get on as well."

"But I'm not even allowed to be in second class, how am I going to get away with first?"

"You can pretend to be her maid or something," Marco interrupted. "Okay, let's figure this out. Rachel and Cassie are taken care of that way. I can take care of myself – I'll just wait until a lifeboat that isn't full begins to be lowered, and then I'll hoist myself into it."

"The biggest problem," I interjected. "Is Aximili."

"To be honest, I am not quite sure what is going on. We are on a boat, yes, and somehow we are supposed to survive it?"

Rachel turned to him thoughtfully. "Didn't you ever watch the movie Titanic?"

"No, Marco refused to show it to me."

"Hey, look, you have to admit that it was a really bad movie."

Tobias began explaining the details of the situation, and I filled the others in on Jake.

"This is bad," Marco said as soon as I finished. "For Ax, Tobias and especially Jake. Ax is a guy, he won't be allowed on right away, but for Tobias who is steerage class, it'll be even harder. And for Jake…"

"It'll be nearly impossible," Cassie finished. "I know. But we have to think of something."

"How much time do we have until this ship hits the floating ice mountain?" Aximili asked, and I shrugged my shoulders.

"No clue. Sometime during the night, that's all I know."

"The sun is already setting," Tobias pointed out. Marco responded, "I remember it took like two hours for the ship to sink, and it was early morning when it did. So I'm saying this baby will probably go down anywhere from 10 PM to 12 AM."

"Shouldn't we warn the people here?" Cassie asked, her face wrinkled in concern.

"Like they'd believe us," Rachel responded. I almost blinked, and then grinned.

"No, Cassie has a point," Marco retorted playfully at first, and then more seriously. "We could save our lives a whole lot easier if the Titanic never sinks. Since we can't morph, that might be the best option."

"Sorry, but I don't think that's going to happen," I said, thinking over Crayak's words. "We're here to survive the sinking of the Titanic. He could easily say we never had to survive a sinking, and then the deal is off."

"Why are we in this stupid deal in the first place?" Tobias grumbled, and Rachel laughed and said, "To get to see me!"

"Somehow I do not think that was Crayak's intention," Aximili said wryly, and I had to agree. We were in this deal to pay off the Ellimist's debt, him helping us to find the Tellak.

"So Ax needs to get on a lifeboat," Marco said insistently, pushing us back to the point. "Ax-man, why don't we hang out together the entire night, and then we can both swing down together to one of the emptier lifeboats? I don't think I'll exactly be sleeping tonight."

"I've got a better idea," I countered. "We all stick together, we all get into lifeboats together. None of us needs to sleep tonight, we've all pulled all-nighters before. We can stay on deck and just wait for the iceberg to hit, and then be one of the first in line to get onto the lifeboats."

"And that leaves Jake," Cassie said, and I nodded, holding up a finger. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten him. I suggest that I go down to the boilers and get him now, while the rest of you stay here. And it should be me because they will be less likely to throw me, as a woman, in jail for trespassing."

"Why don't I go, then?" Rachel answered. "I mean, we could go together, and I could be a first class spoiled brat looking for an adventure, with you as my maid or something, and then neither of us will get in trouble."

"I think wherever Rachel is going, Bird Boy is going too," Marco pointed out, and Cassie added, "And me."

Marco looked at Ax. "Then it'll just be you and me again, huh? Why does this feel so familiar?"

--

But that night, everything fell apart.

In the end, all six of us decided to go searching for Jake, splitting up in groups and coming back every so often to a designated meeting point to explain what we had covered, and then to re-group. Marco, Aximili and I had been in one group while Tobias, Rachel and Cassie had been in the other, and the three of us were waiting for them to show up when only Cassie and Rachel came running in.

"They took Tobias." The words spilled out of Rachel's mouth, she looked ready to take on the entire ship's police. "Somebody saw us together and thought he was dishonoring me or something and pulled him into a fight, and then into a jail. I wanted to fight, but this stupid dress… all I could do was act pathetic."

At that moment, the entire ship shuddered, and I looked up to see the Titanic shave by an iceberg, with chunks of ice falling to the deck where we stood. One rather large piece fell right near us, and I stood, transfixed by it.

"We're dead," announced Marco, and then I sprang into action.

"No," I countered. "We have two hours. I want you four to go get supplies, coats, life jackets, the like, for seven people. Do it discreetly so people don't laugh at you and prevent you from getting access to them. I know where the jails are, I'm going to go free Tobias and then the two of us are going to go down to the last of the boilers, the final ones we haven't checked yet."

"Maya, you sure…" Cassie began and I cut her off. "Yes, I am absolutely sure. I know how to pick locks like you know how to give sick animals shots, and I'll be faster by myself."

I gave them each one look, as if memorizing their faces, and then sped off.

Down twisting corners, the pace of the ship getting faster and faster, or was it just time clicking down, an hourglass running out of sand? I knew where the jails were, we had passed them in our search, and sure enough, I found Tobias standing with his hands on the bars of the cell.

"I figured it would be you," he said cheerfully enough for being locked into a room in a drowning ship. "No one else knows how to pick locks."

I reached for a hair pin, and then twisted it into the right shape, and the door sprang open. Tobias came out swiftly, and then said, "I felt the iceberg – we need to get to the top, did the others find Jake?"

In response I grabbed his arm and led him down deeper, into the belly of the ship. "No, there is only one place left to check."

Water was already seeping through the floor at the very bottom of the ship, and Tobias and I sloshed through it to enter the first of the bulkheads.

I smashed open a glass case on a wall that held a hatchet, and then we continued through to two other bulkheads, each time getting deeper and deeper in water. We passed by workers who were fleeing from the water, and each time they told us to get back before it was too late, get back before we drowned…

The water was up to our ankles when we reached a closed hull, sealing off the other bulkhead.

We could hear people pounding on it, and Tobias said quietly, "Those people know they're going to die."

Staring at the bulkhead, I could see Crayak, gloating, reeking off delight at his final revenge. No. No way was I going to let that smug, pompous jerk get away with killing _my _Prince.

I shouldered the hatchet, and then drove it into the hatch, hacking and hacking as Tobias stood off to the side, as if half afraid of what I was going to do. I continued clawing at it with my hatchet methodically, as the water grew higher and higher and higher.

Finally – I don't even know how long it took - the metal splintered underneath my rage, and then the bottom of it broke off on a fault line, allowing just enough room for the men to hold their breath, duck underwater, and scoot underneath.

We hurried with the men to go back out of the boilers, back under the last hatch before it closed on us, and at the last second I placed the now useless hatchet underneath the hatch, propping it up.

"It'll hold for maybe ten minutes," I estimated. "So Jake has about fifteen minutes to get out of here, if he's in the last bulkhead."

I strained to control my voice, but Tobias didn't even bother. "The water rose so fast here… it was almost exactly where the iceberg hit it. Crayak probably planned that."

"We have to get out of here," I whispered, and then pulled him forward and up the stairs.

Out on the deck, it was as if we weren't sinking. How long exactly had it taken to get Tobias, run down to the hull, literally hack a hatch to pieces with an ax, and then run back up? Everyone seemed fine, but Tobias and I still hurried to the "flying scene" area that we had designated our hideout, and we found three life jackets and coats there, and we quickly donned them.

"They just lowered the first lifeboat," Tobias reported, and I jerked up. "What?"

"Maya, you should go get on it," he said. "You're a woman, you should go get on."

"And leave you here to die?" I asked scornfully. "We both try to get on, and if only one of us can do it, neither of us goes on. I'm better at surviving than you, you need me. If only one of us dies than all of us dies, so saving the most people argument doesn't really apply now."

It was an agonizingly slow wait, and then in a flash, everything sped up almost instantaneously. Tobias had been at me every five seconds, and I had finally agreed to walk over with him to see if they would let us both on. They refused, each time, and then I would refuse to go as well.

But just like that, the tilt became more noticeable, and then that was when I dragged Tobias up towards the stern, remembering from watching the movie how the ship had sank with its stern sticking straight up. People were more frantic now, and I began urging Tobias to hurry, and then I began looking around to see whether any lifeboats were still on the ship.

Two collapsibles were left, but they were by the bow of the ship and not where we wanted to be. I began urging Tobias more quickly, and then when he protested, I grabbed his arm and literally forced him up the side of the sinking ship, yelling above the screams of the dying, "We need to survive! Forget everything else, just survive!"

We clung to the gunwale of the Titanic, and slowly began making our way up the stern, climbing over people and fallen objects as we pushed and pushed, fighting to the top. The tilting of the Titanic was severely obvious now, and Tobias and I just made it over the railing when the ship began sinking vertically into the ocean.

I turned, half expecting to see Leonardo Di Caprio, but of course he wasn't there. It was only me and Tobias, both of us with life jackets, holding onto each other desperately while looking for anything we could swim to.

Suddenly Tobias pointed out into the dark blackness and shouted, "Look, look!"

I followed his finger and was just able to make out black clad figures balancing on an overturned lifeboat, trying to stay on it. A ray of the moon hit one of the faces of the coal workers, and revealed him to be Jake.

I let out a huge sigh of relief - so he had made it out after all - and then turned back my attention to the fact that Tobias and I were about to die. We had only a few seconds left until we had to jump in order to not be sucked underneath with the ship...

"Did you see it?" Tobias asked me, still peering out into the distance. "They lashed some of the deck chairs and threw them in, and there's one empty one out there!"

"We have to jump!" I responded. "I'll hold onto you, lead us there. One, two, now!"

Tobias and I leaped, and the last of the Titanic slid underneath us into its watery grave.

The screams and people begging and fighting and crying were like the cries of the North Korean people in the slave labor camp. However, I blocked them - I had to - and keeping a firm hand on Tobias I began to swim away from the mass of people through the icy water.

I didn't notice the cold at first. It crept up on me the way starvation does, knowing you're getting hungrier and hungrier but only really noticing the pain of it after it's almost too late. I began shivering, and Tobias handed me a small bottle of brandy that he had taken with him and I forced myself to drink some, warming up slightly.

"You sure this is the right direction?" I asked him, through blue lips. The water was so cold...

"As sure as I am of anything," he responded, teeth chattering. "And if I'm wrong, we're both dead, and we fail the Crayak's test and Earth, Somolonania and the Andalite Home World are all destroyed."

I tried to respond, but found that it took too much effort and instead nodded slowly, wishing I had thought speech. Curse Crayak for putting in that catch. No morphing or thought speech, no wonder we were all dead.

It still hurt to move my limbs, but I took that as a good sign and when I sighted the lounge chairs floating there ahead of us I would have sighed, but was too busy shivering. Tobias and I pushed our way to them, and then scrambled on board, trying to avoid the cold waves that splashed over us.

"We need to get warm," I whispered through my teeth. "We'll die."

I twisted out of my life jacket and coat, forcing myself to unstrap and unbutton with numbed fingers. I pulled it off of my torso, and then gasped when the night air hit me, freezing me once more. I turned towards Tobias who was looking at me like I was crazy. "You'll get warm by taking off your clothes?"

Ignoring him, I peeled off more wet layers off my top and letting them hang until I got down to a relatively dry slip. I motioned Tobias towards me, and then unbuttoned his coat as well, before sliding under his 1900's version of a sweater, next to his skin, my arms wrapped around his bare torso.

"Button your coat around us," I ordered from underneath his clothes. "Then take my coat and put that on top of us. And then pull your arms out of the sleeves and wrap them around me."

Awkwardly he obeyed, and then after what seemed an unbearably long time, he slipped his freezing arms around my body. I yanked off my slip and let that fall so we could share body heat and we lay there on top of the gently moving sea, clinging to each other, and to life.

"We might get frostbite on our feet and maybe even our legs might give," I said, "But as long as we keep our vital organs warm, we'll be okay. Now scoot your head over so I can come up."

I twisted my way up through the neckline, and then found that Tobias had placed part of my coat over our faces to block out the wind. Our bodies shifted to share their warmth, and the aching cold slowly began seeping away.

We didn't say anything for a long while, simply wrapped ourselves around each other, allowing our shivering to calm down, our faces meshed together as we drifted on the sea. I could no longer hear the voices of the other people, and didn't know whether they were dead, or whether we were too far away to hear them.

"Do you think the others made it?" Tobias asked, suddenly. "They were all together, but who knows if they got separated or not, or whether they didn't let Marco and Ax on. At least we saw Jake, although he was in a kind of bad place."

"Honestly, Tobias," I answered. "I think we're in more trouble than any of the others."

He chuckled grimly, and then said, "So, what happens now? How long do we have to survive before the Crayak brings us back?"

And what about Rachel?

"Do you want Crayak to bring her back?" I asked, my voice low. Having her with us on the ship had been unnerving at first, but by the end of it, I was simply happy to be given just one more day with her, one more day in which to say a real goodbye. I had let Rachel go in my heart eight years ago when I had added her morph to mine, and if this was a sweet dream, so be it.

Tobias was silent for a long time, and when I suddenly tasted salty liquid, I knew that he was crying. I shifted weight so our eyes were staring straight into each other, and he closed them, unwilling or unable to face me.

"I loved her," he breathed, and I held him more tightly, and we mourned together on the gently rocking sea.

"I used to dream of her at night," he continued. "Every night. I could picture her, growing older like the rest of us."

"When did you stop dreaming?" I asked, still holding him against me.

"They stopped coming as frequently when I started fighting against the One with everyone else. I guess my mind was more occupied, and time... time doesn't heal, you're never healed. But time helps you get used to it. Back on Earth, I had nothing to do but think about her and the life we could have had."

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, and I felt my tears leaking out, as I thought of Rachel, who I could have saved, who I was supposed to be there for, who had died because of my stupid, stupid...

"Don't blame yourself, Maya," Tobias broke in fiercely, as if reading my thoughts. "You're done with that. It's no one's fault. In wars, people die. It was amazing that all of us survived up to that point in the first place, and, well, that's the way she would have wanted to go. Out fighting, giving her friends a chance. That's the way she went into the war, by distracting the Hork Bajir and allowing us to run."

"We can go back," I responded. "We can go back and save her. We know where the Time Matrix is now."

Tobias was quiet again, for such a long time that for a moment I thought he had died there, passed away across the Sea of Stars without another word when he brushed his cheek against mine, while shaking his head.

"I wish, with all my heart, that we could," Tobias said, his voice barely audible in my ear. "But we can't, and you know it. How could I steal the hope of all the people that you've saved, Maya, for myself? I've fought five years for the People of Somolonania, and I know what you've rescued them from. How do we go back and save Rachel, without damning all the others who were given a chance at freedom through her death? How could I face Rachel again, knowing that I denied them that chance?"

"Rachel died so that Somolonania could be born," Tobias continued, his voice gaining strength. "Maya, something that I've realized is that the Ellimist has been interested in you since before you were born because of what you mean to all suffering people, all over the universe. You were born in blood, and you lived in blood, and you know better than anyone what pain is. I think the Ellimist saw that you could bring into being an empire that stands with borders open, ready to take in those huddled masses."

"That vision of hope and peace and love is what Rachel died for."

Tobias stopped speaking, and then he said, even more quietly than before, "I've held onto her for eight years, and this trip finally gave me a chance to say goodbye to her, and that's more than most people have ever had. I'm ready to let her go."

I had no words, and I didn't need them.


	27. Memories and Murders

Chapter 27: Memories and Murders

**Crayak, please reassure me that you will keep your promise.**

**I will. I am not a cheater, unlike you.**

**Never pass up the chance to insult me, do you?**

**Never.**

**Crayak, my friend, you and I are like Earthling soldiers who kill each other in wars, like those who shoot enemies that they might have been friends with.**

**Friends, you and me? Ellimist, you are forgetting what we did to each together. This semblance of friendliness is simply what comes from being constrained by these ridiculous rules. No, Ellimist, we are locked in a war, a deadly game that only one of us will win.**

**Then how is it that we manage to speak to each other, manage to have such conversations if all we want is the other person's destruction?**

**Because, Ellimist, this _is _a game to us. Deny it if you like, but we rarely stoop to care about the individual pieces. You sacrifice for the end goal, whatever it might be. But it is nothing personal.**

**No, Crayak, you do not understand. You never have understood. You may be detached from the players you use, but I never have been, and in the end, this empathy is what will cause you to lose.**

**Hah. All it does for me is to make me more suspicious about what your true motives are, about what your end goal really is.**

**Then be suspicious – you can't stop me.**

**Can't stop you? Ellimist, just by existing I stop you. You call yourself empathy, but I am entropy, and entropy will always win out in the end.**

**The fact that you believe that, Crayak, is exactly why you will lose.**

One moment Tobias and I were rocking on the tied together deck chairs, and the next we were in nothingness once more, facing just Crayak who fixed me with a withering glare. I grinned back at him, knowing that he was furious at me for saving Jake.

Rachel was no longer with us, and my heart twisted for a moment and then was still.

"Your next test," he began sourly, without giving us even a moment to congratulate ourselves, "Is to not make a sound."

Instinctively, I held my breath.

"You will live through the three worst memories of your life, and throughout them you must not make any noise, or you will fail the test."

There were no questions, all of us too afraid to say anything. However, I began to feel nervous. We had to relive memories? Our worst ones? And not say anything at all?

However, we said nothing, and just waited. So it was into complete silence that Crayak said, "You will live your worst memory before the Animorph War, during it, and after it."

My mind was suddenly filled with all the flitting scenes of the past, horrible situations I had lived through, and they were too many to count. Despite my apprehension, I began to wonder – what _were _my worst memories?

I was still thinking when I suddenly found myself stumbling through harsh terrain, on small legs that strained from the effort of walking many days. It was the weirdest sensation – I felt that I could open my mouth and let out a whisper, and I would be back to nothingness – and failure.

I therefore did nothing at all, and simply let myself sink deeper into my younger self, knowing it would be easiest for me if I could just detach myself for a few moments…

"Hurry."

Already deep inside my young mind, I didn't turn to look at Oba who was up ahead of us, and didn't say a word, but let the wonder of his being alive run through me. I had forgotten Oba… had I? He had been the last person I had allowed myself to completely depend on.

Eun-hee was next to me, and when the river ahead of us broke into view, I began to feel afraid of what was coming. For I knew what was coming, and I didn't want to face it.

Shots rang out as we hurried ahead, and Oba's eyes grew wide, with his once familiar grip on my arm. How long had it been since I had last felt it? I could Eun-hee breathing quickly and the three of us began to run, as I kept my mouth shut, unable to say anything.

I could feel the thoughts of my younger self, as if I were a Yeerk reading her mind. The analysis of the fear coming from Eun-hee and Oba…

For a moment the moon went behind a cloud and I stumbled, and had to bite my tongue from crying out as Oba and Eun-hee stopped to help me. This was what had killed them, wasn't it?

I had to disengage, I had to get deeper into myself. I had to be an eight-year-old North Korean girl. Had to be Mah-yah, not Princess Maya of the Nadar.

We were just at the river when the shot I knew would come came and Oba went down, hit by a bullet from the soldiers behind us.

Not again…

I grit my teeth, knowing what was happening, trying to keep myself from screaming as Eun-hee and I let go of Oba and rushed to the river's edge, when Eun-hee, oh, Eun-hee, fell to her knees with a bullet piercing her skin.

I closed my eyes, and the old, terribly familiar rush of feelings came through me, the feelings I had been fighting to keep under control, to banish, to kill.

_The feelings that filled me were terrible. They weren't the feelings of desperation that I had felt when starving with Eun-hee, they weren't the feelings of hopelessness as in the slave camp, and they weren't the feelings of calm decision as when I stood up to the guards in the slave camp._

_Murderous, murderous, bitter rage filled me, engulfed me, and I tasted it and it was sweet._

_You will pay._

_My morph exploded out from me, but in my rage I couldn't concentrate. I was a mix of DNA, a mix of creatures from Earth and from other planets across the whole galaxy. I shot upward on horse's legs, my hands remaining my own and an Elemaki tail shot out of the horse's body. My head melted and hardened into a dragon's head, barely holding its own weight up until its huge powerful neck also formed from my thin pale one._

_I was a monster, a hideous beast, and I was ready to kill._

_I rushed forward into the approaching troops, my flames melting the cars, as the soldiers fell over each other in attempt to get out. My tail flailed about, knocking soldiers aside, cutting open their skulls as often as not, and my human hands picked up a semi that one of them had dropped._

_Blood, blood, give it to me, I thirst for you, come to me blood, I'm calling your name, you know me, come._

_Fire roaring, soldiers burning, legs kicking, bones breaking, tail-blade lashing, blood spilling, hands shooting, humans dying._

_And I loved it._

_I was a spider, a glutton spider sitting on her web, trapping insects to suck their blood, I was a raging fire, destroying trees in minutes and seconds, I was a black hole, sucking men's lives and_

_I was a sentient being, taking the lives of other sentient beings._

I couldn't bear it any longer, and but I couldn't stop my eight-year-old self as she rampaged, as she killed and burned and then when she listened to Eun-hee's voice and demorphed, before throwing Oba's dead body into the river, before struggling with Eun-hee towards the house that I did not want to go to, because of what would happen there. I did not want to be the person who would kill a child in helpless anger.

But I went towards the house anyway and then found my young self explaining to the woman at the door that Eun-hee needed help. For a moment I was disconcerted – it was as if I was being controlled by a Yeerk for the moment, with my lips moving without my meaning them to.

There was a father, mother, and an eight year old girl like us who stared at us from corners, and a baby who was about two years old. I drank in the sight of them, knowing that they would die by my hand in only a few short moments.

_We stayed there that night, me waiting by Eun-hee's side as she gasped for breath, gritting her teeth each time any movement caused her pain._

When morning came, and with it the pistol that the father pointed at me, I fought myself, knowing that I had to let everything happen as it would. Was it shame that Crayak was trying to evoke? Shame, despair, guilt? All the emotions of the dark that I had thought I had left behind? I was struggling with still dormant feelings of anger at the family at their betrayal, my empathy with their situation and the knowledge of what lay ahead.

The father led us outside of the house, and handed us over to the pearl fisher in exchange for money, and I closed my eyes, dreading what would happen next. Please, no, why, please…

"_This girl's a devil," the father said, pointing to me. "We've seen how she paces around and can't control herself. So put your gun to the other girl's head," he nodded at Eun-hee, "and this one," moving his pistol slightly, "will follow."_

_I saw numbly as the other man took out his own gun and placed it next to Eun-hee's head._

_No._

_I spun around with such ferocity that the father took a step backwards. I snatched the gun from him and aimed it straight at his heart, firing._

_He jerked at the impact of the gun and slid backwards, hitting the ground. I then turned to the rest of the family and shot the mother and her baby with one bullet._

_I stared at the eight year old girl who was trembling, shaking, as I aimed the gun at her and fired a single bullet that snapped her head back, killing her instantly._

My mouth was exploding with blood as I struggled to keep it shut, and I had to close my eyes as the face of the dead girl stared back at me, as the realization that I was a Nadar struck me, and as my slow descent into madness began.

When I opened my eyes, I couldn't see anything, and but I could sense blood, and I realized that I was once more a flea on the Blade Ship. I had to control my thought-speech here, didn't I? Not just my voice.

The hardest part was right before the person I was on walked into the dropshaft, knowing that Rachel was fighting them behind me. I had to struggle not to scream to my children, who had to be dying if they weren't already dead.

The polar bear reached out his arm and it seemed to swing through eons of time as it slowly, ever so slowly, smashed into Rachel and flung her to the side.

It was over almost before it began, with my tripping on the floor. Why was it that I always had to trip? The despair I had felt then filled me, and I went reeling back when I heard once more from Jake of my dear dead children, of Lola and Rocky and Sandy and Lupita and Carlos and Drew and Kat.

I steadied myself, as I was thrust into the next scene, but this time I could see, could see my planet exploding in front of me. My emotions whirled as I watched again the beautiful blue and gold and green and brown ball of gas and land and water crumble in the blackness of space. I opened my mouth and then clamped it shut, couldn't let myself even whisper a word of grief, or protest, of disbelief…

I watched as my Home World fell into pieces and I could not say a word.

The blackness that took up where Somolonania had been expanded and rushed towards me, enveloping me until I was standing in nothingness, breathing hard, tasting blood in my mouth and struggling with all the former emotions of long ago. Crayak had been intelligent, so very intelligent... he knew that physical torture was nothing compared to being ripped apart mentally. He knew that he could leave me with the feelings of my former self and that they would make a much bigger impact on me.

Marco was next to me, inhaling heavily as he looked straight ahead, refusing to meet my glance. Jake and Cassie were close to each other, as Cassie shed a single tear. Aximili bent his eyestalks, refusing to look at anyone and Tobias was furthest away, his empty face worst to look at of all.

I could sense Crayak's anger more than anything, and felt a strange triumph. We were harder to break than he thought. We would do it. We would win.

"Your next test," Crayak practically hissed. "Is to kill everyone you meet. You have the space of three hours to do so."

"Give us morphing power," Marco shot out before anyone could even blink. "You have to."

"Yes," Crayak responded, and then Jake turned and told all of us firmly, the way he did before a battle, "We can do it. Hang on there."

I tensed myself, and waited to meet a huge, well-armed host and so held the image of Ssintha in my mind, ready to morph instantly as soon as I arrived wherever I was. This time it was if I was falling through the air, and I landed heavily on a grassy plain, which knocked the wind out of me, as well as disrupting my concentration.

I leaped up, arms out, ready to fight, but found no one. Looking around, I could see someone off in the distance – Andalite or Elemaki, it looked like – and I cautiously made my way towards whoever it was, morphing to Elemaki as I did.

It wasn't until I got very very close, until she turned her face to me, that I realized she was Mamai.

I stopped, and whispered, (Mamai?)

She was the age that she would have been had she lived, and when she smiled at me my hearts broke. How had I forgotten Mamai's beauty? Lithe and elegant, even as a mother, she reached out to touch me, to kiss me, when I remembered what I was here for.

To kill her.

I couldn't. Wouldn't.

But I only had three hours left. Less.

How could I?

(Don't say anything to me,) I ordered, my voice breaking even as I tried to make it harsh. Puzzled, she drew back, and then I forced myself to remember, _she is not real. She is created by Crayak to torture me. She is not Mamai. She is not Mamai. She is Crayak. He is hiding behind this façade, laughing at me and knowing how I am struggling. She is not Mamai._

I repeated that to myself over and over again, as she asked, (What's wrong Mayanamar?) I blocked her voice out and reminded myself that she was Crayak, that he – how dare he! – had stolen her form.

Filled with anger at Crayak for defiling my mother's memory, I demorphed swiftly and then remorphed to snake, my cobra morph. I flared and hissed, but she – Crayak – didn't run, still trying to trick me into thinking that he was Mamai. I circled around the hoof and bit, letting the poison through and then the body shuddered, went limp and I hurried away.

What a filthy trick of Crayak's, to make me kill a creation of his that looks like Mamai. What a horrible, evil, twisted being…

I knew Osgaron would be next, that Crayak would use Osgaron's form next, and so I dispatched of him quickly, and then moved on. I had only three hours to get rid of as many forms of his as I could.

Crayak took all the forms of my loved ones, but I didn't let that stop me. I knew where my loved ones were – they were across the Sea of Stars – and I wasn't going to let Crayak's tricks stop me from stopping the Tellak and returning to my Home World, from saving my people.

But I continued to use my cobra morph. No need to make their visages suffer.

I cursed Crayak with every breath, and began to wonder how the others were managing. Would they be able to realize that the people they had to kill weren't real? That they were merely different faces of Crayak, that they were stabbing Crayak every time they killed what looked like one of their friends and family members? Cassie hadn't killed since the end of the Animorph War. How would she manage?

None of them fled from me – that would have only made it easier for me to lose myself in the hunt. They begged, they pleaded, they called my name but I hardened my heart and each time imagined myself in front of Crayak, victorious as he was forced to release us. I will beat you, I vowed, and continued murdering these empty shells.

I was the first one back.

Marco was next, fifteen minutes or so afterwards. He looked towards me, and said, "I guess you figured it out?"

I nodded, and we settled in to wait, and then Aximili showed up after almost two hours. Jake followed him shortly, but his face was pale.

At two hours and fifty minutes, Tobias appeared, haggard as he bent over, kneeling, his hands in front of him.

My inner clock ticked, and I realized that Cassie's heart might prove to be the undoing of us all. If only she could realize that the people she was killing weren't real, if only she could know that Crayak was behind each of them, wearing their faces like a mask, if only, if only…

Five minutes left.

We had spoken some, but now, all of us were silent and tense. Would Cassie come in time?

Four minutes.

Cassie, I called to wherever she was. Think of the real people who need you. Not of these empty tricks of Crayak. Think of Earth, of the Andalite Home World, of Somolonania. Return to us.

Three minutes.

"She has to come," Tobias said, now standing up. "She has to. I did."

Two minutes.

Cassie…

One minute.

Then, when I thought all was lost, Cassie appeared, sobbing, and Jake rushed to hold her, rushed to comfort her as the rest of us sighed with relief.

"Take us back," I demanded, my voice wavering. This was all too much, too much thrown at us in too short of a time. "Keep your promise."

"I keep my promises," Crayak responded softly, and then nothingness began to swirl around us.

--

There was a short moment of silence as we watched the _Winged _bubble up, the fire and heat eating away the Blade Ship, and then Jeremy said suddenly,"Alexa is in there. She's going to survive that, we have to pick her up after she's regenerated."

A sudden blast rocked us, and then, miraculously, the One was beeping at my communications again. I hurried to open them, while Marco said, "Man, she really likes talking to us, doesn't she?"

"What have you done?" the One cried as soon as she appeared on screen. "My warrior was to arrive!"

But I wasn't listening to her, or looking at her. Instead, I was watching as Alexa suddenly appeared on screen, her arms reaching through the black smoke of the One and straining her arms as if she was pulling on something. The One instantly tried to switch back to a more solid form, but Alexa's arms were in the way, and she could not.

Slowly, almost painfully slowly, Aximili's face appeared out of the One, his hands holding onto Alexa's. Alexa kept a steady grip on Aximili, and then when he was finally pulled free from the one, she threw him through the window screen, and he was sucked out into space.

Instantly I jumped into action, and we released a robotic arm to grab him and bring him into the ship. I watched in almost horrified fascination as Alexa again thrust her arms into the One, and pulled out a human this time, once more throwing him out of the now open window. The One was managing to stay within the ship, but only by staying in her black smoke body, and Alexa was using that to her advantage, diving into the One for the third time and pulling out a small, bear-like creature.

It was then that the explosion chewing up the Blade Ship reached the communications room that she was in, and then the connection failed. The screen switched to an outside view of the Blade Ship, and we watched as our enemy was finally defeated.

Aximili, the human, and the other alien that Alexa had yanked out were pulled into the _Future _and we hurried to make room for them, as Tobias morphed to human and grabbed Aximili's hands.

Aximili was gasping, breathing as if he had been underwater for a long time, and then he gripped Tobias' hands as if his life depended on it.

"Ax-man… you okay?"

(Prince Jake sent you,) he answered, almost abruptly, and Marco nodded. (I called, and he came.)

"It's alright," I responded, leaning over to touch his shoulder. "It's okay, Aximili. You're safe."

He trembled violently, and then Tobias was speaking to him, reassuring him that he was truly free, and Jeremy was plucking at my elbow.

"Maya? We need to pick up Alexa."


	28. A Night Out

Chapter 28: A Night Out

_From: Marco (gorillaman at chee dot net)_

_To: His'onta (hisonta at chee dot net), Taylor (taylor at chee dot net), Maya (princess at chee dot net), Alexa (biolexa at chee dot net)_

_Re: Drinks, anyone?_

_Time: 2159 07/12/09_

_Ladies! I am inviting all of you out tonight, to the most respectable (and only) bar in this entire country. We need to celebrate a few things – number one, that you are all beautiful, single women. Number two, I am twenty-four now, and way more than legally able to drink, although you Mayanites don't seem to brew any alcohol. But that's okay, we can all get wasted on Somohol. Get it? Somo juice but since it's sold in a bar… never mind. Anyway, number three reason to celebrate: we won! The One is gone! Five years of space battles, five years of having to re-hunt down Yeerks that we thought were long gone, five years of learning how to pilot a cruiser and it's all over!_

_And what better way to celebrate than to spend your evening with me? You know you want to. I'll be expecting all of you…_

_Marco_

_From: Marco (gorillaman at chee dot net)_

_To: Tom (aristhtom at chee dot net), Jeremy (aristhjeremy at chee dot net), Xelaman (aristhxel at chee dot net)_

_Re: Drinks_

_Time: 2203 07/12/09_

_Tonight, at the Pub. The usual, only not._

_And oh, congratulations on finally picking an Earthling name, Xel. Xelaman-Methias-Hesseran to Mr. Solomon Matthias Hesser… I think your Earthling name may actually be weirder than your Andalite one…_

"Where are you going?" Xel asked me when I had barged into his apartment. I hunted around underneath his bed, and then pulled out shoes that I had left there last week when everyone in the War Council had gathered there to spend the evening together.

"Marco invited His'onta, Taylor, Alexa and I out to drinks," I told him, pulling the shoes on and then deciding that I might rather go barefoot. "Want to come?"

"Yeah, I got an email. Who else is coming?" he asked, turning to his closet to pull on a shirt. Xel never wore a shirt if he could help it; he always said that he had been an Andalite too long to really like wearing anything over his torso.

"Anyone who wants to," I answered, still staring at my shoes. "Xel, should I wear shoes or not?"

He glanced over. "I don't think it really matters, honestly. You might want to take them though, or you'll leave them here again and then when you actually need shoes you'll have to come running back."

I laughed. "Oh, come on, it's not like we live that far away, I'm two floors below you."

"Yeah, _and _you have a nicer place than me. Not to mention bigger."

"That's because I'm the War Princess of this country," I answered impatiently, still thinking about my shoes. To wear or not to wear… "After winning the His'anthrop War, the Kyan were ready to build me a palace. Settling for a single apartment on the ground floor almost made them throw a fit."

I lived on the bottom floor, Taylor on the next floor, Xel on the third, His'onta on the fourth, Tom on the fifth, Jeremy on the sixth, and Alexa on the very top.

It had been only a few months since the One had been destroyed, and we were still mopping up all her other warriors that continued to fight. But the main resistance was broken, thanks to Keav's sacrifice.

"My place is still filthy from when you all came over," Xel complained to me, interrupting my thoughts. I grinned, and answered flippantly. "Well, your place is the only place that is actually finished. I mean, you had time to pick out furniture since you were running the base of operations in Somolonania. _I _was busy blowing things up in space."

"Excuses, excuses," he muttered while pulling on a shirt. "You know, Princess, we've lived on this planet for eight years?"

"Maya," I instantly corrected. "It's Maya from now on if we're in Rachelarem, when we're Kyan. Once we leave the city, and become Nadar, it's Princess."

"Right, I forgot. Maya. Anyway, it's pretty crazy, isn't it? I've been a human for how long, now, six years now?"

"I think I beat you there," I answered, finally picking up the shoes in one hand. I'd drop them off in my apartment before heading out. "I've been a human for nineteen years. Anyway, let's go."

"One second, let me call Tom and Jeremy and make sure they're coming." Xel said. "Computer, send message to Tom and Jeremy. We're going to the Pub, hurry up. End."

"Okay, let's go."

His door opened into the small hallway, and we turned to the left corner where the down-going airshaft was. It was large enough for the two of us to fit in, although Xel had to hunch over slightly to keep his broad shoulders from protruding out of the shaft.

"I never have to do this when I'm taking the shaft by myself," he grumbled, and I rolled my eyes at him before the shaft stopped on my floor. I came out, and the door, recognizing my DNA standing before it, opened and I threw my shoes in. Xelaman followed, and then we turned around and walked through the other door that led us outside.

Normally I would have morphed to bird, but normally I was in clothes (i.e. a uniform) that allowed for morphing. Taylor had picked out an outfit for me for tonight, as she always did, and it wasn't conducive to morphing. Besides, I was with Xelaman, and he was a nothlit, and I wasn't about to just say, "Okay, bye, Xelaman, I'll fly and you walk."

We began strolling on the grass paved road which was full of people walking, running, or riding on the youths of Somolonanians who acted as buses, going back and forth through the streets.

Only children and young adults used them though, as they didn't really stop at bus stops or wait for you to get on. Instead, you stuck your hand out and the Somolonanian, when it got to you, would slow down just enough for you to clamber onboard its back, where a rope rigging had been slung. You clung onto it and shoved your feet into the rigging until you needed to get off, and you let the Somolonanian know this by screaming, "STOP!" at the top of your lungs. He would then slow down enough for you to jump off, before taking off again.

A level above us, in the air, were people riding hoverboards, people in bird morph flying, and the occasional Ssintha trying out newly formed wings. They could usually only fly for very short distances though, and had to stop every so often to catch their breath.

Xel and I greeted people as we walked down the road, and stopped to buy and taste fruit from a vendor selling by the side. The seller smiled at us as she handed us the fruit, explaining that she had grown it herself, what did we think of it?

"I love it here," I sighed, as we reluctantly pulled away from the fruit stand. "I always love coming back here. It's always so busy, so bustling, so full of life."

"You do know that those three phrases all mean the same thing," Xelaman told me, and I laughingly shoved him. He stumbled, and then cried out, "No fair, I've only had two legs for six years, you can't purposefully try and make me fall."

We passed the hotel that the Animorphs were staying at, and Jake came out of the front of it, tucking his shirt in. I called out a greeting, and he looked up with a surprised expression that broke into a smile.

"I'm guessing Marco invited you to drinks?" asked Jake as he fell into step with us. "I think we're late, Ax and Tobias already left already."

"Is Ax okay?" I asked quietly, so that no one else in the street would hear. "I know it bothered him that so many died in order to free him…"

Jake shrugged. "He doesn't talk about it much to me, or to Tobias, I think. He's actually been spending a lot of time with Sowdamini, actually, he goes off with her to graze and doesn't come back for hours, and he always seems happier after he talks to her."

I thought of my sweet, shy cousin who still bowed her eyestalks to me whenever she greeted me. Yes, she would be the right person for Ax to turn to.

We were quiet for the rest of the walk, but when Jeremy and Tom caught up with us from behind, the chatter started.

"Why don't we take a Somobus?" Tom asked. "It's still another ten minutes until the Pub, and we're already late."

I shook my head. "No, no, don't think like an Earthling, just enjoy the walk. It's not like they need us to begin drinking Somohol, as Marco put it."

Xel chuckled. "I like that. Somohol. Marco is funny, correct?"

Jake gave a short laugh. "Depending on whom you're talking to. Some of his jokes can be really really bad – so bad that they actually become funny because they're so bad. But other times, he's genuinely hilarious."

(So, Maya, is everything set for tonight?) I heard Jeremy's voice in my head. I sent back a yes, and then continued reminiscing with Jake.

"Yeah, sometimes he would piss me off with his constant jokes, but I got pissed off by a lot back then, so I'm not sure if that's saying much."

We continued bantering, my bare feet brushing along the grass. All of us were barefoot, actually, except Jeremy – he claimed that when he went outside to walk on streets, he thought of actual streets, not avenues of grass, and so instinctively wore shoes. Xelaman began debating with him about that, pointing out that he hadn't worn shoes for most of his life, when we arrived.

The Pub was very popular, not to mention one of the largest buildings on the planet, so it took a while for us to find everyone. When we did, though, it seemed like half the Pub was filled with people we had invited.

And there was His'onta, flicking her dark hair over her shoulder as she talked to a human Tobias by the counter, and then Marco flirting like mad with Taylor who actually looked like she was enjoying herself, Ax and Sowdamini walking around together, trying things from people's plates. Alexa was reading a book in the corner, and I heard Jeremy mutter behind me, "I cannot believe she is doing that," before walking over to her and yanking the book out from her hand and dragging her to the main table. Tom took Jake over to the counter to order drinks, and Jeanne and Santorelli were with Oscar who was demonstrating something for them, I couldn't tell what from here. Menderash had already left for the Home World, where he had been appointed Head Advisor on Nadar Affairs – he was going to be the go-between for Mayaneria and the Andalite Home World.

"What are you thinking about?" Xel asked from behind me and I shook my head. "Nothing, really… well, to be honest, I was thinking about how the invitation the Andalites issued to me, welcoming me to their Home World for a visit. Menderash told me before he left that it was one of the highest honors that a non-Andalite could receive."

"I can just imagine it – all these old, dignified Andalites bowing their eyestalks to you as you walk off the most impressive ship they've ever seen."

I snorted at the thought. "You know, sometimes I think that it's impossible for me to be where I am now, that this is all a dream and I'll wake up an Elemaki female back on the Home World."

"No, this part isn't a dream," Xel responded, in a thoughtful tone. "That Elemaki female – she was a dream. That bloodthirsty Nadar – she was a dream. You've just finally woken up."

"You love to paint things in the rosiest terms," I teased, and then said, "Come dance with me."

I headed to the back room where it was quieter, a small string orchestra playing a slow waltz on the stage in the back. Obligingly, Xel followed me, and then I curtsied, half mockingly, and he bowed with a smile. We met hands, and started to dance.

"Taylor made me learn how to do this," I explained, our feet moving together. "She made you learn how to dance as well, didn't she? Well, she was the one who had the idea of having these bars play classical dance music."

"Is that unusual?" Xel asked me, his hands almost completely covering mine. "What are bars like on Earth?"

"Oh, boy," I laughed. "Well, they aren't like this one."

We fell into silence as the music picked up, and we circled around the floor, gaining speed until we were practically flying. Flush with the challenge, I spun and turned with Xel, who whirled me around as we swept around the floor, gliding past other couples. It was only until the music completely stopped did we finally pause, laughing as we made our way back.

"I just danced with an Andalite turned human," I said, my eyes sparkling. "And he didn't trip once."

"You had four legs too, once upon a time," he responded smilingly, and then guided me back through the crowd.

Marco saw us coming back together, and then clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright, everyone, thank you for coming. As I said in my emails that I sent out, we are here to celebrate three things. However, the most important thing I'd like to focus on today is that it is my buddy Jake's birthday today, so everyone give him a round of applause."

We all clapped and cheered, as Jake waved us off. Some started to sing, but Marco hushed them with gesture.

"Now," he began, his face starting to glow with excitement. "We have to give our birthday boy, who is now twenty-four, a present. And I've got the perfect thing in mind. So, Jake, if you could come up here and then look straight forward…"

Puzzled, but obedient, Jake did as Marco asked and came to the back of the table, and then looked up. Right across from him was a young Elemaki female, who waved at him and smiled with her stalks. Jake waved back, and asked, "I'm sorry… but do I know you?"

(I think you do,) she responded, and then she began to demorph.

Her front legs receded back into chest, and she stood, delicately balanced, on her back hooves while they transformed into dark, bare feet. The morph continued upwards, until only her head was left to turn into Cassie's smiling face.

Jake stared, stunned.

"Z-space has a loop in it this week that makes traveling to Earth only take two days, instead of the usual month," I broke in. "It gave us just enough time to go and get Cassie for your birthday."

It had been five years since they had seen each other, and I held my breath, waiting to see what would happen. Marco and I had argued about bringing Cassie to Somolonania, and he had finally convinced me that it would be best for Jake if I did so.

"Cassie…" Jake said in a low voice. "I…"

Tell her you love her, I told him silently, but I didn't use thought speech. Jake needed to do this on his own. Cassie needed it to be just from him.

Suddenly, Jake had vaulted over the table, and was holding her in his arms, trembling. Cassie was looking up in his face, and she raised one arm and cupped his chin.

"Cassie," Jake said again. "Will you marry me?"

I let out a sigh of relief, as Cassie kissed him in response, and then the entire room broke out into cheers. I leaned back into Xel, who put his arms around me as he whistled.

"I love whistling," he told me suddenly. "Almost more than tasting. To think, you can make a sound with your _tongue _against your _teeth. _Amazing."

I shook my head. "You are so weird."

"So, I guess Jake got the best birthday present of his life, huh?" Xelaman continued, more quietly, as people surged around us, gathering around Jake and Cassie to congratulate them. I nodded, and added, "All my idea of course."

"Hah," returned Xel good naturedly. "I seem to remember you and Marco arguing to death about whether this should happen at all, whether it had been too long since Jake had seen Cassie. I also seem to remember almost everyone, from Jeremy to His'onta, being accomplices to the plan."

"Well, Marco did have a point," I admitted. "Jake did contact Cassie almost every day from our ship's computer. I doubt they talked that much even when we were all living in the valley together."

"When do you think they'll get married?"

"Oh, probably as soon as they get back to Earth," I answered. "I'll be heading back with them, along with a contingent of the Nadar Army to take over North Korea. Then I'll move right along and set up diplomatic relationships with the rest of Earth. Their wedding will take time to prepare, so I should have enough time to set everything up before I attend."

"What do you want me to be doing, while you're doing all this?" Xel asked me, very carefully casually.

I answered with just as much of a calculated airiness. "Oh, I don't know… what is it that you want to be doing?"

"I want to be with you."

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out, and then Xel added, "Forever."

"Oh, Xel…" I whispered, and then twisted around in his arms to look at him. He looked back, almost helplessly. "I told you that I loved you, Princess."

I drew in my breath, and thought of Xel, of the man who was holding me, and the first image that came into my head was of his anxious face when he had ripped open the Spider silk cocoon that had encased me, of his shoulders bent over when he tried to catch his breath as he told me that he was a nothlit.

All my memories of his gentle goodness, of his genuine loyalty, and his unwavering love flooded and filled my mind, and I tipped my hand back and kissed him gently, as I thought-spoke to him, (Yes.)

And then as the kissed deepened, I heard Marco's voice in my head as he told me, (Maya, I'm watching you right now make out with Xel, and I just want to let you know, that you have confirmed that I am a genius and a master planner.)

I would have laughed, but I had no mind, no words to spare for anyone as Xel and I kissed each other, a kiss that was half in celebration of our love, and half in celebration for who we had become. For we were both creatures who had rejected our younger, hate-filled selves in return for new lives as beings full of hope, freedom and love. We were both people who knew what it meant to be pulled from the darkest, blackest holes into the shining light.

**Author's Note**

I'm very very sorry that I didn't get to responding to your comments - I've been away from the Internet for quite a while, relatively speaking. But here is the next installment and I'll respond to comments as soon as I can. Have a Happy New Year!


	29. A Final Meeting

Chapter 29: A Final Meeting

_From: Cassie (alienadvisor at us dot gov)_

_To: Maya (princess at chee dot net)_

_Re: Here comes the bride_

_Time: 0439 08/01/09_

_Dear Maya,_

_I wanted to email you to thank you for the special anti-morphing bracelet you sent me that I can wear while I'm pregnant. I'll still probably wear it even after I give birth, to be honest. I mean, I'll still find useful its ability to instantly generate a force field around my whole body if a threatening projectile is sensed near me, even if that capability was added only to make up for the fact that if you're hit with a bullet while pregnant, you can't morph without offing your child. You Nadar are so clever, you know?_

_I also wanted to thank you for the island on Somolonania you offered as a place for the Hork Bajir to live. Thank goodness that you __have_ an island with a good environment for Hork Bajir, or I don't know what we would do – they had a population explosion and I was going to have to ask for another national park.

_Jake and I are fine here on Earth. A little busy perhaps, but other than that, life is better than it's ever been. We're still twenty-four, after all, and at the prime of our lives, and it looks like that we might be able to live the rest of our lives in peace. I don't know what else the Ellimist and Crayak have up their sleeves, but hopefully whatever it is, it won't include us._

_Now you, on the other hand, are still running around after the remnants of the Yeerk empire, as well as everyone who fought with the One, on __top of being newly married. Jake estimated that it would take you at least a year before things quieted down in space, so I wish you the best of luck, and when you are done, come visit! I know that you are planning on sending a contingent through North Korea as soon as you have Nadar to spare – come with them, and stop by America to see us, and bring Xel as well._

_Tom and his parents re-united, and they are moving to Somolonania, or so I heard. After their bout with infestation, they want to regain the years they lost with their son. I think Helen, Naomi and Loren are going with them, along with Jordan, Sara, Gilbert, Anne and little Anna. You won't believe how big they've all gotten. I heard rumors that Alloran and his wife have already moved to Mayaneria, and I'm happy they chose to do so – I don't think life could have been that pleasant for Alloran on the Andalite Home World._

_And what other news is there? Oh, yes, how could I have forgotten – Tom and Taylor are engaged, and it looks like from Tobias' emails that he and His'onta are going to get engaged fairly soon as well. He told me he became a human nothlit with wings, like Keav, although you already know that of course, since he's there with you._

_It looks like the next year will be full of weddings, and if we're lucky, we may even be able to see a wedding on the Andalite Home World between Ax and Mini! Poor Marco is so jealous. He told me that he expects you to pay for all the intergalactic travel tickets for him, as well pay for a protection envoy. Jake and I will be satisfied with just the tickets though, although we do want to be on Somolonania for Tom's wedding, as well as Tobias', before going over to the Andalite Home World for Ax's. I'm sure that it won't be too much of a strain on your budget. _

_And Maya, thank you so much for arranging to have me come to Somolonania. It was so good to see all of you after five years. Come visit often, our home is yours._

_Yours,_

_Cassie_

It was still dark when I woke up next to Xel.

I carefully pulled myself out of bed, not wanting to wake him up, but he reached for me and laughing, I climbed back in.

He held me against his chest, and we didn't move, just lay there in the comfort of each other's existence.

"I have to go," I finally whispered. "There is someone I have to meet."

Reluctantly he released me, his eyes still closed, and I crept to the closet and after a moment's hesitation, pulled out a silvery sphere.

I had ordered Alexa to retrieve the Time Matrix from Earth, by herself, so that no one would know, and she had brought it to me. I had been determined at first to find some way to destroy it, but since then had put it in my closet, almost afraid to look at it.

Today, I knew, was the day.

The sun had just begun to rise by the time I came out of our small house, and I carried the Time Matrix in a flexible tote bag. I greeted the few Kyan that were out on the streets that early, and then slowly made my way to the lake that was the center of Rachelarem.

Nobody was around when I stopped by the edge of the lake, the same place that I had been pulled under the water by the Spiders six years ago, and then pulled out the Time Matrix.

I waited, knowing that the answer to my unspoken question would come.

"Princess."

I turned, and faced the Ellimist.

We said nothing for a long time, just stood and studied each other's faces, my hand just barely keeping the Time Matrix from rolling away. The Ellimist seemed to half flutter, half float, and I could see the resemblance between the way he had looked now and the way he had looked when he had been… a child.

"Who are you?" I asked. "And what is it that you want of me?"

But there was no bitterness in my voice, only a questioning tone, and I lifted my face to look into his more clearly, and saw the peace in his eyes.

He began to speak, and I listened, as he told me of his past. Time stood still during his tale, and the sun froze on its spot in the horizon as I learned of the Ellimist. Of Toomin. Of the games he had played, and the games he still continued to play. Of what he had hoped for when he chose me.

"I had a lot riding on you," he answered quietly. "And I wasn't sure if you would pull through or not. But I guess I was right, after all."

The Ellimist looked around at the still sleeping Kyan, at the soft light filtering through, at the grass and trees we had re-grown, at the soft hum of the dawn and said, "Maya, War Princess of the Nadar, when the sun rises you will see mortals of all races mingling together, speaking and working and playing without a thought towards hatred. You will see Andalites and Elemaki fall in love. You will see Ssintha caring for their young, and not devouring them. You will see Kelbrid come down from their mountains and give rides to young humans, Somolonanians sharing their visions and their land to a People who were once lost."

I nodded. I had already seen this happen.

"More will come, Maya. More mortals, desperate for a Home World, desperate to find a place where they can forget war. There are Kyan who will flee their planets, and come to Somolonania, hoping for a new life. There are Nadar who will come also, who will enter into the service of the Princess and who will go out boldly to foreign lands, ridding the universe of oppression. You know what it is to suffer. This land is a place where the weary can rest, where they can hope, and love, and live, in peace."

"_That vision of hope and peace and love is what Rachel died for."_

"Come and live with us," I offered impulsively, my hand still on the Time Matrix. "Come. Become a Kyan, and live with us. The People will accept you. You will be treated with honor, and respect, and you will never have to play another game."

"Do not tempt me, Maya," he responded in a low voice. "You do not understand how much I long to join you and live among you People, to finally rest. But I cannot. There is still one last game to play."

I knew better than to ask what game that was, and so instead, I bowed my head, and thought of this strange creature and his life, and all that he had gone through.

"You were just a kid," I almost whispered. "You were just a kid, like I was. Struggling to make the right decisions, not knowing how much they would cost you. But… I guess in the end, I made it out better than you did."

I could tell that the Ellimist was silently agreeing with me, and I almost knelt in the grass, overcome by all that he had just told me, overcome, thinking of every little action in my life that had led me to stand in the grass beside this being, when I had started out as just another half-breed female.

"I hated you, you know," I told him, and then looked up at his face. "But you know, I was wrong."

"Thank you," he responded, but I shook my head. "No. Thank _you._ I was wrong to curse you… I… just, thank you. Thank you for everything, for trying, for doing your part to make this possible."

With the word this, I motioned out at the still sleeping Rachelarem, and then looked out over my People. They didn't know of the year that I had gone through, in order to save them. Nobody did, except for the seven of us who had gone. I wasn't sure yet how to tell them, or if I ever would.

"Ellimist, can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Can you… destroy the Time Matrix?"

The Ellimist was silent for a moment, and then said, "No, Maya, I cannot. The Time Matrix is for you to keep, for you to use as you see fit."

"I cannot use it," I responded. "I cannot."

"No, you can't," he responded. "And I am glad that you know this."

"Nobody can know that it's here," I told him. "Only Alexa."

I glanced down, and my reflection stared back at me, blue eyes gazing calmly into mine, black hair hanging straight down.

Something in me made me lift my hand, and then my reflection disappeared as the Time Matrix rolled away from me, down into the blue and gold waters of the lake. Lake Saranai, hadn't it been named? Somehow it seemed appropriate.

It disappeared into its surface, and when I turned, the Ellimist was still there, watching me.

"War Princess of the Nadar," he said, and I knew this was the last time I would ever see him. "I honor you."

"Creator's blessings," I responded, and then bowed.

When I had straightened up, he was gone.


	30. Goddess of Peace

Chapter 30: Goddess of Peace

_From: Marco (gorillaman at chee dot net)_

_To: Maya (princess at chee dot net)_

_Re: My awesome rap song_

_Time: 0908 08/01/09_

_Dude, Maya, listen, I was lying in bed, just thinking, and then I came up with this awesome rap song about the book you wrote on what happened to you in Somolonania. I'll paste the lyrics here, they seriously rock, you should use them to advertise for your book because they are _that _good._

_This is a song for you, and a song for me,  
And a song for the Elemaki in that tree.  
That Elemaki's part of a series so fine,  
It's practically as bright as the sun-shine,_

_The stories' so good,  
The stories' so sweet,  
It just makes me want to eat Elephant meat._

_Your stories they put  
All otha stories ta shame,  
Your stories neva cause  
Otha people, pame (pain)_

_So listen up, ya'll,  
To a story so insane,  
It'll make you wanna hear it  
Ovah and ovah again._

_That story is awesome  
As pineapple juice  
That story could even   
Bring delight to a moose._

_So listen close now,  
To this story EXcelente  
About a race, and a girl  
Who killed mighty plenty_

_And was good at it, too  
And joined some other kidlits  
Who killed lots, too,_

_Until they met the Creator,  
Oh so fine,  
And then they all got married,  
Without even stopping to dine!_

_Not one bachelor  
Or bachelorette  
Was left of that fine, crazy mess!_

_But oh well now, we must make our excuses  
At least the kidlets born will drink a lot of juices!  
But not reg'lar juices, no, not at all,  
They'll be drinking those made from  
Somlonaniall!_

_There'll they'll be livin'  
In peace and plenty  
Ther'll they'll be livin'  
Most happy and contented._

_And that's where most of the story ends, ya'll,  
And if there's more, you'll have to just deal with it all!_

_Isn't that awesome? And for the record, __no, the line about all of you getting married is not indicative of any feelings of jealousy. Man, why does everyone think that?_

_Your Future Rap Artist,_

_Marco_

I looked up and out across Lake Saranai, and then began running, running across the fields of Osgaron, the sun rising behind me swiftly. I ran, my feet pounding across the dew-covered grass of Somolonania until I could run no more.

Pausing, I swiftly morphed to bird, and then sped across the sky, hurtling through the air as I climbed higher and higher into the atmosphere. I didn't stop until I was there, at the mountains, at the plateau where the dragons had sung their song of hope, their song for the future.

I threw out my hands against the wind and breathed, breathed deep breaths of the air of a new world, embracing all that called out to me.

I looked over the valleys, the rivers, the forests, the mountains, all from my vantage point, the tallest peak on Somolonania.

And I cried out to Lady Liberty, across the oceans of this world, across the vast and enormous galaxies, across the Atlantic, to the muddy harbors of New York, I cried to her, saying, this, this is the dream of all humanity, that you can do anything if you just reach out your hand, stretch it out and work with all your might to taste the sharp sweetness of the fruit called life…

And I had worked hard, and this was my reward.

An entire planet, ripe for me, to begin to love, to love as so many had loved me, so many loves that I had rejected, or worse, kept for myself.

It was my turn to pour out love, and I had a planet that was waiting for it, trembling in eagerness as it turned on its axis, orbited its sun, danced with its moons.

Oh my beloved People. Oh my beloved Home World.

---

Dear Readers, 

Wow. It's been what, over two years since this series started, and now it's finally come to a close. I don't think I ever dreamed that writing about Maya would become such an integral part of my life, that it would mean so much to me to be able to take the little, scared, Elemaki girl from the Andalite Home World and bring her to Somolonania where she would finally learn peace. But yes, she is finally here, ready to live her life as the War Princess of the Nadar, and what more, ready to open Mayaneria to the entire universe, and to let the planet shine as a beacon of hope.

I want to thank some people here, people who really really deserve a huge thank you for pulling me through. First of all, I want to thank my sister, who has been my ever constant encourager, pulling me through tricky plots and reading each chapter over and over again, offering advice that saved me, as well as giving me the confidence to keep going. Becky, I couldn't have done it without you. I started with Maya by telling you my plot ideas on the bus rides home, and I've ended it with you by emailing you every chapter to read and insisting that all our conversations be about my fics. You've typed up written chapters for me, you came up with that rap song up there, you've fixed my plot holes and edited my grammar and caught my typos. You were honest when the chapter was horrible, and you were honest when it was well-written. You've always been there for me, and I can't tell you much I appreciate that.

I would really really like to thank A-cat, for her steady reviews that constantly encouraged me and kept me going, even when I stopped updating for over several months. You have no idea how much your constant support meant to me, and how much I depended on you throughout the series. Honestly, I wouldn't have come back to ff.n if you hadn't been there, A-cat, because I've always known that you would faithfully be reviewing each chapter, with good advice and critiques that never led me wrong. Our conversations also led to several subplots that really helped the story become richer, and your giving Alexa to me was so awesome because she has been a huge part of Maya's life, and such a great character to write. But in the end, I'm glad that I joined ff.n if only because I got to get to know you personally. :sends a thousand hugs:

Next, I would like to thank Wraithlord42, my beta for several of my Animorphy style fics and the earlier chapters of the Nadar Chronicles Part III, as well as my co-author for the War Council, and the inspiration for the character Jeremy. Wraithlord rescued me from so many technological errors, took my very vague descriptions of how the Kelbrid and the Somolonanians work, and turned them into true science fiction material. Those AIM conversations we had helped me so much when I was making the transition to the Nadar Chronicles Part III, and I really cannot thank you enough for all your support.

DH is next, for staying with me in my writing and inviting me to explore more writing activities through RP, which allowed me to broaden my mind and gave me the chance to try so many new things. DH, you've been like a mentor to me, and I won't ever forget the gifts you've given to me, as well as the support that meant more to me than I can say. Your giving Nora to me as a character set into motion a huge part of Mayanites: Nadar and Kyan, my next series, and has made me more than excited to start writing it.

And kaz456, if only because of the amazing quality of your reviews and the way you gave me such thorough advice. Never feel bad about sometimes missing chapters, you more than made up for it in the way you gave me such amazing reviews, which were my favorite to read out of all the ones I received. Thank you so much!

To my other reviewers, you mean everything to me. I stayed up waiting for your reviews, drinking them in as they came into my email inbox. The fact that you took the time to drop a review makes all the difference in the world. Tabatha51, my first reviewer, Chinmayi who came on and encouraged me a lot to keep writing this last chronicle, voodooqueen126 for being such an amazing supporter, Ember Nickel, and then of course to my older reviewers, Flame-of-Life, Beekiller, Birdie Num Num, Hell-Flame-Narf, Eyes of Forest, Toby Hamee, Ladies of Romantic Dreams, Anicrazy, Rachel9466, Ari-AdiAx, and everyone who reviewed consistently and kept me going – you know who you are!

To my readers, I want to thank you as well, for thinking my story was worth it. Although I may have never gotten to know you, or listen to your advice, my hit counter also helped me continue updating, just because I knew there were people reading.

A thank you to all my favorite fanfic authors: Blue Dragon, L. Emmist, DawningStar, Freak Apple and Jinako-chan, who influenced me and my writing tremendously. The same goes to my favorite RL authors, Orson Scott Card, Mark Helprin and William Nicholson, the three of whom taught me beauty and truth, and how to capture them in words.

I'm going to be taking a break from fanfic land with the end of this series for awhile, although I'll hopefully be back with my next series, Mayanites: Nadar and Kyan. Although it is set in mayaverse, Maya won't be narrating, and will remain a 3rd person character in the background in most fics. I think it goes without saying that I'll miss Maya, and I'll miss writing from her eyes, using her words to tell you a story.

I have to admit – she's a crazy girl, but so much fun. She's been through a lot, and there is still more for her to deal with, but for now, it's time to say goodbye to Maya, and to launch off for our next adventure.

-KP


End file.
